SBU: Metropolitan Arseniy faces up to 8 years in prison

Metropolitan Arseniy in court. Photo: Sviatohirsk Lavra

The head of the press service of the Main Directorate of the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) in the Donetsk and Luhansk regions, Halyna Pryshchepa, commented on the ongoing court process in the criminal case against Metropolitan Arseniy (Yakovenko), the abbot of the Holy Dormition Sviatohirsk Lavra of the UOC, as reported by Ukrinform.

“The court sessions are still ongoing. If there had been a verdict, we would have been informed. Especially since this is a high-profile case,” Pryshchepa said.

The process is taking place in the Sloviansk District Court, and no other court is hearing the abbot’s case.

Metropolitan Arseniy was detained in April 2024 on suspicion of spreading information about the movement and positions of the Ukrainian Armed Forces. He faces 5 to 8 years in prison under Article 114-2 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine.

As reported by the UOJ, the court prohibited Metropolitan Arseniy from participating in the trial via video link, despite the fact that transporting the UOC hierarch from Dnipro to Sloviansk poses a threat to his health and life, as well as to the security of the convoy accompanying him, since the route passes through an active conflict zone.

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