UOC demands to prosecute the adviser to Ivano-Frankivsk mayor

Archpriest Alexander Bakhov, Chairman of the Legal Department of the UOC. Photo: news.church.ua

On April 21, 2021, Nazariy Kishak, the adviser to the mayor of Ivano-Frankivsk on security and law and order, on his Facebook page stated the need to "purge all Moscow monasteries", indicated the address of the Transfiguration church of the UOC in Ivano-Frankivsk and attached a photo of people with weapons and a "death to the enemies" hashtag.

According to the head of the Legal Department of the UOC, Archpriest Alexander Bakhov, such narratives lead to incitement to religious hatred and should be prosecuted under Article 161 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine, according to the Information and Education Department of the UOC.

Archpriest Alexander admitted that by such unlawful statements Kishak distracts public attention from such an inconvenient topic as the maintenance of deputies and advisers to the mayor, for whom the city allocates 730 thousand hryvnia per month against the backdrop of the budget deficit of 500 million UAH.

"Whatever the motives of Mr. Kishak, we regard his calls as a real threat and appeal to the law enforcement agencies to give a proper assessment of these calls and open criminal proceedings under Article 161 of the Criminal Code for inciting religious hatred," the lawyer said and called on the head of the executive branch of Ivano-Frankivsk Ruslan Martsinkiv to dismiss Nazariy Kishak from the post of security and law enforcement adviser.

The priest drew the attention of officials to the holiness of the days of Holy Week for believers and asked "to refrain from provocations and not incite religious hatred at least for this time."

Earlier, the UOJ spoke about the publication in the social network of Nazariy Kishak's call to expel the UOC from Ivano-Frankivsk city.

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