UOC priest in court: I am accused of being a member of the "wrong" Church

Archpriest Serhiy Chertylin in court. Photo: UOJ

On 6 June 2024, Archpriest Serhiy Chertylin of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church claimed that he is being accused of being a representative of the "wrong" Church.

During an appellate court hearing regarding the change of his preventive measure, Archpriest Serhiy made an oral statement requesting the recusal of the prosecutor.

When the judge asked on what grounds he made such a statement, Father Serhiy responded that in the prosecutor's motion to extend his preventive measure, he was accused of being a "representative of an enemy Church".

The priest also noted the "biased attitude" towards him "even in the suspicion" that he represents the "wrong" denomination.

"My religious right to be a clergyman is being violated. My personal right to be an ordinary citizen who practices his faith is being infringed," emphasized Archpriest Serhiy.

He further explained to the court, "The recusal of the prosecutor is motivated by the fact that the prosecutor as part of a group of prosecutors deliberately misled the court by accusing me of treason, showing bias against my religious beliefs and labelling me as a priest of the so-called 'Moscow Patriarchate', as noted in the motion, suspicions, and so on."

"All this deliberately misleads the court," the priest stressed.

As earlier reported by the UOJ, the defenders of Archpriest Serhiy Chertylin and the "Union of Orthodox Journalists" staff described the proceedings in the UOJ case at the Solomiansky Court building.

Read also