The Kiev Pechersk Court did not consider the indictment of the alleged provocation of Archimandrite Zacharias, a priest of the Kiev-Pechersk Lavra, who sang a “pro-Russian” song. This was reported on the website of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church (UOC).
According to the court decision, the circumstances implicitly testify to the absence of a full-fledged procedural statement in the charge, which means it is impossible to appoint him to trial. Moreover, the court could not assess how the clergyman committed the “crime”.
“This would be contrary to the provisions of Part 3 of Art. 6 of the European Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms.
Earlier, the Security Service of Ukraine announced that a criminal case was opened regarding the fact that Archimandrite Zachary sang a song allegedly glorifying Russia at a hymn in the Kiev-Pechersk Lavra. The song had these lines: “The ringing floats, floats over Russia, Mother Russian awakens.” The SBU filed a lawsuit under the article “The justification, legal recognition, denial of the armed aggression of the Russian Federation against Ukraine”.
Before that, the Prosecutor General’s Office of Ukraine presented The head of the Cherkasy diocese of the canonical Ukrainian Orthodox Church, Metropolitan of Cherkasy and Kanevsky Theodosius (Snigirev), was accused of “justifying and recognizing the legitimate armed aggression of the Russian Federation against Ukraine.”