Police open a case against provocateurs who rioted near Lavra

Anti-church "activists" near the Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra. Photo: a video screenshot of the Telegram channel "Kozak 1".

On the evening of 13 October 2023, the Pechersk District Police Department, after a two-week delay, complied with the court decision and opened criminal proceedings on the fact of obstruction of the UOC worship service near the Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra on 18 September, reports the Lavra’s lawyer Archpriest Nikita Chekman on his Telegram channel.

"The Pechersk police has finally executed the court ruling!” he wrote. “A pre-trial investigation has been launched. We hope it will be effective, and all those who commit offences will be held accountable!"

An extract from the Unified Register of Pre-Trial Investigations shows that the police department received the decision of the Pechersk Court to open the case only on 12 October, although the court sent it as early as 29 September.

Criminal proceedings were opened under Part 1 of Article 180 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine (illegal obstruction of a religious rite, which disrupted or threatened to disrupt a religious rite). Provocateurs who committed this offence face imprisonment for up to two years.

As earlier reported, lawyers of the Kyiv Pechersk Lavra filed 10 statements to the Pechersk Police Department about the illegal actions of "activists", which can be qualified under part 1 of article 180 of the Criminal Code. Law enforcers ignored all the complaints. The lawyers appealed each fact of police inaction in court. To date, judges ordered the police to open four criminal proceedings under Article 180 and one more - on the fact of a teargas attack on a parishioner of the UOC.

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