Court decides to hold Metropolitan Arseniy's case behind closed doors

Metropolitan Arseniy of Sviatohirsk. Photo: Sviatohirsk Lavra

On August 9, 2024, the preparatory court hearing continued in the Sloviansk District Court regarding the case of the abbot of the Sviatohirsk Lavra, Metropolitan Arseniy of Sviatohirsk, according to the monastery's press service.

During the two-hour session, the bishop was held in a "box". The brethren of the Sviatohirsk Lavra and the sisters of the St. John’s Skete from Adamivka came to support him in the courtroom.

"Despite the priority of addressing the issue of the bishop's detention, the judge did not even begin this procedural process," the Sviatohirsk Lavra wrote. "Instead, the judge immediately considered and granted the prosecutor's motion to hold the trial behind closed doors, thereby depriving the public of the opportunity to follow the proceedings."

It is reported that the court also ignored the request of Metropolitan Arseniy and his lawyers not to transport him each time from the Dnipro pre-trial detention center to the Sloviansk District Court but to allow him to participate in the hearings via video link.

The next preparatory court session is scheduled for August 13.

The Lavra also noted that this session was originally scheduled for August 8. However, since some of the bishop's lawyers were involved in other court cases on that day, the defense team had submitted a request in advance to the court to postpone the session to August 9.

As reported by UOJ, the two-month period of Metropolitan Arseniy's detention expired on June 22, and he has been unlawfully held in the pre-trial detention center for nearly two months. The Verkhovna Rada Commissioner for Human Rights, Dmytro Lubinets, announced that he had ordered an investigation into the unlawful detention of the abbot of the Sviatohirsk Lavra, Metropolitan Arseniy.

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