Court orders police to open another case against provocateurs near Lavra

Advocates of "spiritual independence" near the Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra. Photo: a video screenshot of the Telegram channel kozakTv1

The Pechersk District Court of Kyiv obliged the district police department to open another criminal proceeding in connection with the attempt of anti-church "activists" to disrupt a service of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church near the Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra, says the court decision published by the TG channel kozakTv1.

The document notes that the judge upheld the complaint of the Lavra’s lawyer, Dmytro Tsvetov, about the fact that the police officers did not respond to his statement and did not enter into the Unified Register of Pre-trial Investigations information about the commission of a criminal offence by "activists" on 29 September 2023.

The defendants of the case to be opened by law enforcers face up to two years in prison.

Earlier, the Pechersk court satisfied five out of eleven complaints of lawyers of the Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra against the inaction of the police, which ignored all their statements about the illegal actions of UOC opponents near the monastery. Almost all statements are related to offences under Part 1 of Article 180 of the Criminal Code (unlawful obstruction of a religious rite, which disrupted or threatened to disrupt a religious rite). On 13 October 2023, the Pechersk District Police Department, after a two-week delay, implemented one of the court decisions and opened the first criminal proceedings.

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