SBU accuses UOC priests of treason
The National Security Service Office in the Rovno region has accused the priests of the Rovno and Sarny eparchies of treason and inciting religious hatred.
At the moment, the clergy who were summoned for questioning by the SBU on December 5 were called as witnesses, charivne.info reports.
“Today 12 priests were called as witnesses in open criminal proceedings, which are being investigated by investigators of the SBU in the Rovno region. Given Article 222 of the Code of Criminal Procedure and Article 387 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine, I cannot, as yet, provide information about the features of the pre-trial investigation, since I do not have permission of the investigator to disclose information about the pre-trial proceedings,” explained the press secretary of the National Security Service Office in the Rovno region Inna Iliuchok.
As the vicar of the Rovno eparchy Bishop Pimen of Dubno reported, the clergymen are charged with cases under Art. 111 (High treason) and Art. 161 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine (Violation of citizens' equality based on their race, nationality or religious preferences, namely, “actions inciting national, racial or religious enmity and hatred”). He also said that 12 priests got summons, and two were called orally. However, inside you could see a few more priests. They did not know the reason for their summon.
“We can say that our priests are illegally incriminated. I wanted to declare that we would support our priests. We will pray for the accused groundlessly. We will argue our case, including in the legal field,” said the bishop.
He stressed, “As for the brochures, no propaganda information has ever been distributed in our Church. Even the brochures in question explain what schism is.”
“In general, this summoning is an insult for us,” the hierarch said and added that the priests of the Rovno eparchy would not go to the “Unification Council” on December 15.
As the UOJ reported earlier, the SBU made a statement that during the searches of the UOC clergy, they found “an organized distribution network for materials inciting religious hatred.” The statement says that the printed materials found during the searches of the clergymen and dedicated to the unity of the Church and the sin of schism have evidence of inciting inter-faith strife.
