Sviatohirsk Lavra: Detention of Metropolitan Arseniy is unconstitutional

Metropolitan Arseniy of Sviatohirsk in court. Photo: Sviatohirsk Lavra

On Thursday, August 15, at 1:00 PM, the Slovyansk City District Court in the Donetsk region will hold another hearing in the case of the abbot of Sviatohirsk Lavra, Metropolitan Arseniy, according to the monastery's press service.

It was reported that for three consecutive days, from August 13 to 15, the presiding judge will review the matter of selecting a preventive measure for the bishop.

"Metropolitan Arseniy remains in detention despite the fact that the grounds for his detention have already been declared unconstitutional: in July of this year, the Constitutional Court of Ukraine ruled that part six of Article 615 of the Ukrainian Criminal Procedure Code, concerning the extension of detention during martial law, is unconstitutional," the monastery explained.

The Lavra's press service also claims that the ruling to extend the bishop's detention was issued by a judge who was not authorized to do so.

As previously reported by the UOJ, the 60-day detention ordered by the Oktyabrsky District Court in Dnipro on April 25 expired on June 22, yet the abbot of Sviatohirsk Lavra remains in the Dnipro detention center.

The Ukrainian Parliament Commissioner for Human Rights, Dmytro Lubinets, stated that he had ordered an investigation into the illegal detention of Metropolitan Arseniy in SIZO.

Earlier, the UOJ reported that the court decided to hold the trial of Metropolitan Arseniy behind closed doors, and the brethren of Sviatohirsk Lavra described the bishop's detention conditions as torture.

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