UOC community in vlg Malinsk defends their right to church in court

Holy Apostles Peter and Paul’s Church in Malinsk. Photo: UOJ

On May 14, 2021, a hearing was held in the Berezno District Court on the elimination of obstacles to the use of the Peter and Paul Church by the religious community of the UOC in the village of Malinsk. As a result of the court session, believers of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church in the village of Malinsk in the Rivne region won a lawsuit filed by supporters of the OCU.

As the human rights activist of the Sarny Eparchy Raisa Prikhodko said, the newly formed community of the OCU filed a lawsuit against the individual Vladimir Hnes.

“The paradox of this situation is that Vladimir Hnes is the rector of the Peter and Paul Church of the UOC in the village of Malinsk,” the human rights defender commented on the case. “But since the regional state administration liquidated the UOC community on the basis of a pseudo-assembly of the OCU, they cannot appeal to its rector.”

As evidence of their claims to the temple, supporters of the OCU provided the court with their falsified "ownership right" to the Church of the Apostles Peter and Paul in Malinsk. They motivated their action by the fact that the UOC community had lost the certificate of ownership to the church, which is not true.

“The certificate is with the rector, he showed it to the court. At the end of the hearing, Father Vladimir wrote a statement to the police about the forged document; as a result, criminal proceedings were initiated,” said human rights activist Raisa Prikhodko.
Following the hearings of the case, the Berezno District Court ruled to deny the claim of the OCU community.

As reported earlier, other believers of the Sarny Eparchy of the UOC – the St. John the Theologian Church – also intend to fight for their rights to the church in court.

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