Human rights defender: The Prosecutor's Office violated the presumption of innocence and breeded a fake

Human rights defenders from NGO "Public Advocacy" appealed to the Prosecutor General of Ukraine with a demand to remove obstacles to observance of the right to freedom of religion and the presumption of innocence against representatives of the Zaporozhye eparchy of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church, reports the site of human rights activists.

The reason for the appeal was a report of January 11, 2018 on the official website of the Prosecutor General's Office of Ukraine under the heading "Law enforcers began to investigate the facts of deliberate acts committed by certain representatives of the UOC-MP and the "Orthodox Union Radomir" aimed at inciting ethnic, religious hatred and enmity, as well as insulting citizens’ religious feelings."

"The text of the information report contains language that provides grounds to believe that criminal proceedings are open against specific individuals who are representatives of the Zaporozhye eparchy of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church. Also, the report contains language which is understood as evidence of the established or possible guilt of these individuals for committing an act to incite religious hatred," human rights activists explain.

"Public Advocacy" cites examples of publications in the media that were provoked by this information report, which "testify that the official publication of the state authority formed the basis for spreading the rhetoric of hatred towards the denomination of the UOC in general."

In addition, human rights activists report that regarding the issues of baptism, funeral services, etc., "the selective approach to the implementation of religious rites is not prohibited by the current legislation of Ukraine and is an established religious practice throughout the world, it is respected and recognized by international law. International legal practice has numerous cases of recognizing the need to observe the rules of faith and cult practice as a legal fact."

"I ask you to consider the proposal and in the near future to provide an official comment on the absence of suspicions or convictions brought against the clergy or other representatives of the Zaporozhye eparchy of the UOC in criminal proceedings, presented in the information report on January 11, 2013," writes the head of the NGO "Public Advocacy" Oleg Denisov and asks the Prosecutor General to take this case under personal control.

As indicated on the site of human rights defenders, the non-governmental organization "Public Advocacy" has a special consultative status with the UN Economic and Social Council and, within the framework of monitoring the observance of human rights and fulfilling Ukraine's obligations under the UN Universal Periodical Review of the 28th and 37th sessions of the Human Rights Council, is reviewing the observance of the rights of religious communities and believers in specific situations of interaction with the government on a wide range of issues.