Lawyer recalls pre-war position of Interior Ministry on seizure of churches

Human rights activist and head of the “Women's Power of Ukraine” organisation Victoria Kokhanovska reposted on her Facebook page a Vinnytsia regional police message dated 2019, in which the agency explained to citizens their rights regarding the transfer of churches to other jurisdictions.

The security officials published the post because they had received dozens of complaints from believers that their right to freedom of religion was being systematically violated. In order to ensure that the constitution was not violated, the police had to provide clarification on the current law.

"All decisions taken at a territorial community meeting regarding religion are illegal and cannot be enforced. Conclusion: Interference of the territorial community in the activities of religious organizations will violate Articles 11, 35, 37 140 of the Constitution of Ukraine, the consequence of which may be the prosecution of individual officials under Articles 161, 178, 179, 180, 341 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine," the police wrote.

The Vinnytsia Regional Police stressed that all issues that arise in relation to religion, including issues of changing denominations, belong exclusively to the competence of religious communities, whose members are believers, in accordance with the Church Statute of the religious organization.

As reported, the UOC community in Novy Korets called on the authorities to stop violating the rights of parishioners.