Court declares prosecutors' powers in Metropolitan Arseniy's case illegal

The trial of Metropolitan Arseniy. Photo: Sviatohirsk Lavra website

On April 14, 2025 – Holy Monday – a hearing was held in the Sloviansk City District Court concerning the case of Metropolitan Arseniy of Sviatohirsk, the abbot of the Sviatohirsk Lavra, according to the Lavra’s official website.

During the session, the court reviewed a complaint from the defense against the order by the prosecutor’s office leadership appointing a group of prosecutors to the case. Metropolitan Arseniy’s lawyers argued that the prosecution's authority had been established in gross violation of the requirements of Ukraine’s criminal procedural law.

After hearing the arguments from Metropolitan Arseniy, his defense team, and the prosecutor’s objections, the court sided with the defense and annulled the contested order, ruling that the appointed group of prosecutors lacked legal authority to participate in the case against the abbot of the Sviatohirsk Lavra.

At the same session, the court also began reviewing motions from the defense to obtain new evidence which, according to the lawyers, proves the absence of any criminal offense in Metropolitan Arseniy’s actions.

The next hearing in the Sloviansk City District Court is scheduled for April 17, Holy Thursday.

In addition, a session of the Dnipro Court of Appeal is planned for April 21, Bright Monday, to consider the defense’s appeals against the extension of Metropolitan Arseniy’s pre-trial detention until the end of May. The hearing is set to begin at 13:30.

It is worth recalling that Metropolitan Arseniy of Sviatohirsk has been held in the Dnipro pre-trial detention center since April 24, 2024 – nearly a full year. He is being prosecuted for a sermon in which he criticized the blocking of believers at checkpoints on their way to worship at the Lavra.

Earlier, the UOJ reported that according to UOC attorney Robert Amsterdam, the charges against Metropolitan Arseniy were fabricated.

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