Court holds hearing on preventive measure for Fr. Sergiy
The priest's lawyers succeeded in recusing a biased judge.
On March 14, 2024, in the Solomyanka District Court of Kyiv, a motion by an SBU investigator for the imposition of a preventive measure for one of the Orthodox journalists and human rights activists detained on March 12 – Father Sergiy Chertylin is being considered. This was reported by the attorney Archpriest Nikita Chekman on his Facebook page.
Father Sergiy is being sought to be placed in custody without the right to post bail.
During the hearing, a recess was announced as the priest's lawyers requested the recusal of the judge.
Archpriest Nikita Chekman stated that the court had put the defense and the prosecution at a disadvantage. Fr Sergiy was not allowed to sit with his lawyers from the Legal Defense Center, unjustifiably leaving him in an isolated booth. Additionally, the court has not yet provided all the materials of the accusation to the defense lawyers.
As a result, the lawyers from the Center succeeded in replacing the biased judge.
A new judge, upon the request of the lawyers to allow Father Sergiy to sit with his lawyers during the court session, responded, "No objection."
The court session was live-streamed on Father Nikita's Facebook page.
As reported by the UOJ, in connection with the SBU's detention of journalists and human rights activists, an open appeal was made by the UOJ to international human rights organizations.
