Nizhyn Сity Сouncil fails to pass decision to ban UOC

UOC parishioners at the Сity Сouncil session in Nizhyn. Photo: a video screenshot of "Suspilne"

On 20 June 2023, members of the Nizhyn City Council failed to pass a resolution banning the operation of the UOC communities in the city and stripping them of the right to use land plots under churches, reports the news agency suspilne.media.

UOC believers came to the session and urged MPs to abandon the anti-church project.

"This is all illegal – what you are now considering here," said a resident of Nizhyn, Kateryna Boiko. “No one is thinking for some reason that the constitutional rights of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church parishioners (Article 35 of the Constitution) will be violated and that the European convention is being violated.

City Council deputy Svitlana Kirsanova stressed that the bill contradicts the legislation and called to remove the issue from the agenda.

"How can we enforce it (this decision – Ed.)?” she asked. “Is this just to get everyone to confront one another? This decision as it stands cannot be brought up in the session. It is beyond the authority of the City Council. And a second question. You write, "Terminate the use of land in the community. How do we do that?"

The discussion lasted for an hour and a half, then the project was put to a vote after all. It was supported by 18 deputies, two abstained, and five did not vote. Two votes were lacking to make a decision.

As reported, the Cherkasy City Council prepared a draft decision on the seizure of land plots from the UOC "for reasons of public necessity".

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