Calls to pressure MPs who do not support Bill 8371 surface online

The public is being urged to write messages and letters to MPs. Photo: ҐРУНТ

In the Telegram channel "ҐРУНТ", people are being urged to "pressure" the MPs of the Verkhovna Rada to support Bill No. 8371, which effectively bans the UOC.

The channel laments that 146 deputies do not support the bill, while 226 signatures are needed to bring it to the hall for a vote.

"ҐРУНТ" published a list of the MPs' names, personal social media accounts, and email addresses, and urged people to write messages and letters to them.

Draft texts for this pressure campaign have been compiled in a separate file.

On Facebook, Instagram, and X (Twitter), people are encouraged to leave comments such as: "Sign and vote for Bill No. 8371! Every deputy blocking the ban on the Russian church in Ukraine supports the occupiers and collaborators."

In personal messages, it is suggested to add: "We are watching all deputies who protect enemy agents."

The call to "press MPs to support Bill No. 8371" particularly focuses on members of the Servant of the People faction.

On the "ҐРУНТ" YouTube channel, a separate video was published, inciting religious hatred against UOC believers and the Church, as well as discrediting the names of MPs who did not sign to unblock the consideration of the anti-church law.

Fearing, evidently, criminal liability for interfering with the activities of a state official (Article 344 of the Criminal Code), activists listed a Ukrainian Armed Forces service member as the author of the list.

As the UOJ previously reported, Valeria Lutkovska, a distinguished lawyer of Ukraine and former Verkhovna Rada Commissioner for Human Rights, explained the potential consequences for the state resulting from appeals by UOC religious organizations to the ECHR following the adoption of Bill No. 8371. She stated that Bill 8371 needs to be referred to the Venice Commission.

Read also