Lavra abbot’s defense challeges court decision on his house arrest

Metropolitan Pavel (Lebed) and Archpriest Nikita Chekman in the courtroom. Photo: pravda.com.ua

Defenders of the abbot of the Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra, Metropolitan Pavel, have filed an appeal against the court's decision to place the bishop under house arrest. This was announced by the abbot's lawyer, Archpriest Nikita Chekman.

He noted that “on April 5, the full text of the ruling of the Shevchenkivsky District Court of Kyiv was announced, which applied a measure of restraint in the form of house arrest for a period of 60 days to Metropolitan Pavel, the abbot of the Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra.”

The lawyer emphasized that “when making a decision, the court ignored the basic principles of criminal proceedings: the adversarial nature of the parties, the reasonableness of the terms, respect for the honor and dignity of the individual, the right to defense and the presumption of innocence.”

“We consider the court decision illegal and unreasonable, due to which the defense party has filed an appeal with the Kyiv Court of Appeal in order to exercise the right to judicial protection. We hope that the court of appeal will listen to the arguments of the defenders and make a fair decision,” Father Nikita said.

As the UOJ reported, on April 1, 2023, SBU officers searched Metropolitan Pavel's house and handed him a suspicion under two articles of the Criminal Code: 161 (inciting religious hatred) and 436 (justifying Russia's armed aggression). Vladyka was placed under round-the-clock house arrest without the right to visit the Lavra.

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