In Transcarpathia, a UOC believer charged for posts on social media

The SBU presents charges (suspicion) to a UOC parishioner. Photo: SBU

The Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) has charged a resident of the Transcarpathian region with "inciting religious hatred" and "destabilizing the situation in the region" due to her posts on social media, according to the SBU's press office in the region on Facebook.

The reason for the charges is her support of a priest from the Ukrainian Orthodox Church (UOC), who had previously been convicted for promoting communist ideology and insulting representatives of other religious denominations.

"In her posts, the agitator used narratives of Russian propaganda, in particular, insulting the followers of one religious denomination. The offender also justified the criminal actions of the rector of a church in the Khust Diocese of the UOC (MP), who was previously exposed by the SBU for promoting the communist regime. Her actions contributed to the worsening of the internal situation in the region, inciting religious hatred and animosity. This was confirmed by the results of a linguistic examination conducted as part of the case," the SBU noted.

The woman has already been notified of the charges under Part 1 of Article 161 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine, which deals with violations of the equality of citizens based on their race, nationality, or religious affiliation, as well as other signs.

As reported by the UOJ, earlier the SBU stated that they had found two communists among the clergy of the UOC.

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