Lawyer explains why "victims" don't attend trials against UOC hierarchs

"Victims" do not attend the trials against the hierarchs of the UOC. Photo: ukranews.com

In an interview with "Watch on First Cossack," lawyer of Metropoltian Jonathan of Tulchyn and Bratslav, Ihor Chudovsky, stated that, as a practicing lawyer, he often encountered the problem of individuals, forced to become "victims," not showing up in court.

He compared the current situation to the times of Stalinist repression when 5 million people were sent to the GULAG based on written statements.

Today, such statements are needed to become the "basis for inclusion in the Unified Register of Pre-Trial Investigations" and initiate criminal proceedings.

"However, the person (who wrote the statement) later realizes that they were deceived. They were told to write a statement, and then nothing more is required from them. But their procedural status is that of a 'victim,' and according to the law, they must be held accountable for lying under the Criminal Code. This becomes a problem for the 'victim' because they understand that they have to go to court and will have to lie, raising questions about the criminal liability of that person," explained the lawyer.

He emphasized that when the "victim" wrote the statement, they signed that they were warned about providing false testimony, indicating "they acknowledged that if nothing happened (from what was alleged), they are legally responsible, and then they can switch places with the accused."

Chudovsky mentioned that in the case of Metropolitan Jonathan, there were many witnesses, but only two individuals, who are not capable of independent thinking and follow propaganda templates, appeared. They claimed to have attended Jonathan's sermons where he allegedly bought up Kremlin narratives, though th former couldn't provide details about when or where.

Moreover, these "victims" are unaware that Bishop Jonathan is being charged for three leaflets allegedly found in his house and an article on the website of the Tulchyn Diocese. The lawyer stressed that they are talking about things "an old woman mentioned on the street," which is not relevant to the case.

Earlier, the UOJ reported that the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) had put "linguistic expertise" against the UOC on stream.

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