Authorities can't deport UOC Primate until trials end – lawyer

Metropolitan Onuphry. Photo: UOC press service

In a comment to one of the Ukrainian media outlets, lawyer Andriy Domansky stated that the deportation of Metropolitan Onuphry is unlikely, as the Primate of the UOC intends to prove his case in court.

According to the lawyer, the termination of the UOC Primate’s citizenship contradicts the Constitution of Ukraine. Article 25 of the Fundamental Law clearly states that a citizen of Ukraine cannot be deprived of their citizenship. Metropolitan Onuphry is a citizen of Ukraine by birth and residence, not granted citizenship by presidential decree as is the case with foreign citizens.

Domansky emphasized that there is no evidence of the Metropolitan holding citizenship of another country. Moreover, according to him, the quality of document preparation by law enforcement in cases related to the UOC is generally unacceptable. He explained that in one of the cases he is handling, the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) indicated that the materials were prepared by the State Migration Service of the Chernivtsi region, but in court, the migration officials stated that they had never dealt with this issue.

The lawyer believes that the application of premature actions by government institutions without a final court decision will appear illogical.

Earlier, the UOJ reported that, according to expert Vyacheslav Likhachev, the authorities are exerting political pressure on Metropolitan Onuphry.

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