UOC Legal Department catches Dumenko in manipulation

Archpriest Alexander Bakhov. Photo: news.church.ua

The head of the Legal Department of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church, Archpriest Alexander Bakhov, caught the head of the OCU Epiphany Dumenko in manipulations, who announced that the Grand Chamber of the Supreme Court of Ukraine had passed a decision in their favor in the matter of the legality of re-registration of the Holy Protection community of the UOC in the village of Sutkivtsi, Khmelnytsky region. The published decision states that the Supreme Court dismissed the claim of the parishioners of the UOC because they applied to the wrong court, not because it recognized the re-registration in favor of the OCU as legal, the UOC Legal Department said.

Father Alexander noted that on April 6, 2021, the Grand Chamber of the Supreme Court of Ukraine made a decision, the text of which was not published. But representatives of the OCU and personally Sergei Dumenko actively disseminated manipulative statements about the first case of confirming the legality of the re-registration of the UOC parish. “Yesterday it (the court's decision – Editor's note) appeared in the Unified Register of Court Decisions and we now see that the statement of the supporters of the OCU and Sergei Dumenko is absolutely false,” said the head of the Legal Department of the UOC.

He explained that the court refused to satisfy the claim of the Holy Protection community because they had chosen an inappropriate way to protect their rights. Also, this decision specifies in particular that the consideration of such a category of cases belongs to economic jurisdiction.

Archpriest Alexander Bakhov noted that the religious community of the UOC in the village of Sutkivtsi intends to continue protecting its rights and will once again go to court, taking into account the remarks set forth in this decision of the Supreme Court.

As the UOJ reported, the Legal Department of the UOC denied the OCU's statement on the decision of the Supreme Court in their favor.

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