Writer Slepynin handed an indictment in the case of criticizing Tomos

Oleg Slepynin. Photo: Facebook

Oleg Slepynin, a children's storyteller from Cherkassy, a winner of international literary prizes, received an indictment in the case of inciting sectarian hatred and is facing trial now. The writer himself, who is accused of disseminating critical materials about the Tomos and the OCU, considers an upcoming trial to be a significant precedent for all defenders of the Church.

“The investigator and the prosecutor issued me the indictment under Part 1 of Article 161 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine – incitement of sectarian hatred for the burning at the metaphysical level of a schismatic ’tomos’ with articles, allegedly published by me under a pseudonym on the Internet,” Slepynin said on his Facebook page on Tuesday 1 September 2020.

In the received indictment, according to the writer, it is noted that “the kindling was committed at an unspecified date and time, under unspecified circumstances; there are no victims of a criminal offense; the prosecutor is absent from the case; property damage was not caused", and after expert examinations in the amount of more than UAH 37,000 "the circumstances that mitigate the punishment have not been established."

“A precedent is being created to make every person, including the priest and the bishop of the canonical church, realize that defending the Church is fraught with danger, that one cannot oppose the seizure of churches, cannot refer to schismatics in a theological discourse as schismatics, because you’ll be mired for that; just as one cannot mention about anathematized or self-ordained or quote the words of the saint that schismatics commit such a sin that the blood of a martyr cannot atone for it. Why so many prohibitions? It's simple: the schismatics are offended, they have their own vision of church canons. What's next? Courts. Any trial is always an interesting performance, especially if you watch it from the sidelines. Anyway, we have what we have, and thank God. Our cause is Christ's,” wrote Oleg Slepynin.

As reported by the UOJ, on July 16, 2020, the Cherkasy court sentenced Oleg Slepynin, who criticized the Tomos and the OCU, to two months of house arrest. In 2019, the writer was accused of producing and distributing materials commissioned by "Russian curators", which condemn the creation of the OCU and the granting of the Tomos.

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