UOC Legal Dept assesses the disperse of liturgy in Horodenka by the police

Horodenka, Ivano-Frankivsk region. Photo: photodocumentalist

The Legal Department of the UOC commented on the publication available on the website of the Horodenka city council, Ivano-Frankivsk region, where on August 2, it was reported that the police had dispersed the worship of the UOC community in a private house.

Lawyers recalled that “no Law in Ukraine prohibits gathering and praying anywhere indoors or outdoors, but the Law prohibits any interference with such prayer instead.”

The Legal Department stated that the actions of the authorities and the police are completely illegal, since "according to the legislation of Ukraine, local governments are not empowered to prohibit the conduct of worship or prayer."

“We call on and demand from the central executive authorities, including the State Service of Ukraine for Ethnopolitics and Freedom of Conscience, the Ministry of Culture and Information Policy of Ukraine, and law enforcement agencies to take actions aimed at stopping illegal actions by officials of local governments of the Ivano-Frankivsk region, violation of the constitutional rights of believers in the region, as well as the cessation of actions aimed at inciting hostility and hatred,” the statement said.

Earlier, the UOJ wrote that in Horodenka, the police obstructed the worship of the UOC community in a private house.

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