UOJ asks to help jailed Orthodox journalists

Our employees face life imprisonment for telling the truth. Photo: independent.ie

From almost the very beginning of open persecution against the Church, that is since 2015, our resource – the Union of Orthodox Journalists – has been doing everything to defend the right of the ordinary Ukrainian to believe in God. Our main task has always been and still is to show people who call themselves Christians that the Gospel is not just a theory but a practice, and that Christ is not a mythical hero, but the Way, the Truth and the Life.

We have shaped our editorial policy to correspond not to the trends of the time, not to political demands and not to the historical situation but solely to the Gospel. This means that if someone goes against the Gospel – we speak about it, regardless of the status and position of that person, be it a member of parliament, a politician, a president, a bishop, or a patriarch. This position of our editorial board did not and does not please either the "left" or the "right", either liberals or conservatives. We were insulted, accused of all imaginable and unimaginable sins, told that we are a "questionable" resource, and threatened with reprisals.

In Ukraine, they demanded to ban us because we wrote about the seizure of churches; in Russia, they accused us of working for the SBU because we wrote about the unacceptable position of the Patriarch and the ROC regarding the war against Ukraine, and some pro-patriarchal resources even called us schismatics for constantly emphasizing the independence of the UOC.

From the first day of the Russian aggression, our editorial board took a clear stance voiced by His Beatitude Metropolitan Onuphry: this war is Cain’s sin. We consistently adhered to this position. And not because we wanted to please people, but because we wanted to please God. But even in this case, we heard insults and accusations...

In short, for many years, tons of dirt, lies, and hatred have been poured on us. Now this period is over – destruction has begun.

On March 12, SBU officers came to the employees of the Union of Orthodox Journalists Andriy Ovcharenko, Valeriy Stupnitsky, and Volodymyr Bobechko, as well as to our colleagues from "Kozak1" and "Myriany".

Their homes, as well as the houses of other journalists, were searched. No evidence indicating illegal activity by the UOJ staff was found during the searches. However, this did not stop the law enforcers from placing our colleagues in the pre-trial detention centre.

At the moment, our employees along with Father Sergiy Chertylin are in the Lukyanivka Detention Centre (SIZO). They and a dozen other journalists were subjected to wild accusations which can be boiled down to the following: Orthodox journalists and human rights defenders, who deal with the persecution of the UOC, are members of a criminal group, justified Russia’s aggression against Ukraine, incited religious hatred by telling how OCU representatives beat UOC believers, and discredited the country by publishing materials about church seizures.

All accusations are so groundless and absurd that it is difficult to understand where fantasy ends and the nonsense of those who fabricated these accusations begins. But despite this, we still have to defend against and refute these accusations. And we will do it! We will defend our right to freedom of speech, our right to religion, and the right to live by conscience, not by order.

At the same time, today the question is not only about our defence but also about the defence of each of you, every citizen of Ukraine. Because by defending the honour of the jailed journalists, winning their freedom and closing criminal cases against them, we will prove that Ukraine will be free, that it has the right to be called a democratic state, where authorities are servants of the people, not lawless individuals.

By defending the journalists advocating for the rights of believers, we will also defend the Church for which they are currently suffering.

That is why the UOJ is asking for your help.

Without you, our dear readers, we cannot cope! A dozen and a half criminal cases have been opened against us, and our employees are facing LIFE IMPRISONMENT JUST FOR TELLING THE TRUTH!

Under the current circumstances, with a huge number of criminal cases, we will not be able to pay for the work of lawyers, expertise and other services that will be provided to us to protect the right to freedom of conscience and speech. Therefore, we ask for your help. For almost ten years of the existence of our resource, it’s the first time we have done this, which MEANS we won't be able to cope without you.

In total, we need UAH 1 million for the defence of those who are in the pre-trial detention. About UAH 500 thousand are needed for the defence of those who are suspected. Here are the details and links to the banks where you can donate funds.

Send money to any of them, your help will go to the defence of the three detained UOJ journalists and all those affected by the false accusations in this case.

Fundraising for the legal defence of Orthodox journalist Valeriy Stupnitsky:

Card number: 5375 4112 1534 4651

Link: https://send.monobank.ua/jar/4MP5Pwys38

Goal: ₴ 460,000

Fundraising for the legal defence of Orthodox journalist Andriy Ovcharenko:

Card number: 5375 4112 1527 5855

Link: https://send.monobank.ua/jar/46uQTtgFy2

Goal: ₴ 420,000.00

We urge you not to remain passive because the defence of Orthodox journalists is the defence of the Orthodox faith in Ukraine!

Join us!

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