Met Arseniy spends 11 hours in court on his episcopal ordination anniversary

Metropolitan Arseniy and the faithful in court. Photo: Sviatohirsk Lavra

On December 5, 2025, the day marking the 20th anniversary of Metropolitan Arseniy of Sviatohirsk’s episcopal consecration, the Checheliv District Court of Dnipro conducted one of the most prolonged and contentious sessions in his case. According to the press service of Sviatohirsk Lavra, the day became a culmination of a week of nearly uninterrupted hearings.

The session opened at 10:00 a.m., but within minutes a recess was announced until 12:40 p.m. – the court needed “to ensure the connection” for several Members of Parliament who had asked to act as guarantors for Metropolitan Arseniy.

Although many MPs had notified the court in advance of their intention to participate, none of them were successfully connected. As a result, only MP Viktoria Hryb, who came in person, was able to attend.

Obstacles were also created for the faithful who came to support the abbot of the Lavra: some were simply not allowed into the courtroom building, with security citing an “instruction from the judge.”

While the session remained on pause, Metropolitan Arseniy served a thanksgiving moleben right there in the courtroom, after which he addressed the faithful, speaking on the importance of gratitude to God: “We often ask God for things, but we forget to give thanks. Thanksgiving is hands stretched out for new blessings.”

Toward the end of the recess, the brethren of the Lavra and the sisters of the Lavra’s sketes arrived at the court, congratulating the metropolitan on his episcopal jubilee and presenting a congratulatory address from the entire monastic community.

After the recess, despite the fact that the metropolitan’s defense lawyers had been prepared in advance to participate online, the video conference system was never activated. Instead, the court summoned a lawyer from the free legal aid system.

This lawyer was given only about an hour and a half to review the case materials – half the time required by law. Moreover, the materials were provided not by the court but by the prosecutor, which the defense described as a gross violation of the Criminal Procedure Code.

The attorney filed a motion to recuse Judge Tetyana Bezruk; however, the hearing on the recusal proceeded with remarkable speed and formality – the parties were not even notified that it had begun. The motion, as expected, was denied.

Following additional reports of procedural violations, the court postponed the hearing until 10:00 a.m. Saturday.

Only after 8:15 p.m. was Metropolitan Arseniy transported back to the pre-trial detention center – meaning he had spent roughly 11 hours in the courthouse.

It was also noted that the court completely ignored air raid alarms and failed to provide evacuation for participants in the proceedings.

From December 1 to 5, five court hearings involving the hierarch were held:

• December 1 – the hearing on the investigator’s recusal was terminated due to the judge’s own recusal. New date: December 10.
• December 2 – the appeal against the decision on pre-trial detention was again postponed: for the third time in a row, the appellate court did not receive the case materials. New date: December 9.
• December 3 – the appellate court changed territorial jurisdiction for the second case and transferred it to the Checheliv Court, where the first case is already being heard.
• December 4 – the hearing on the first case was unexpectedly replaced with consideration of pre-trial measures in the second case; due to a power outage affecting the defense lawyers, the session was postponed, and then – due to technical issues – postponed again to December 5.

As the UOJ reported, Amsterdam stated that the case against Metropolitan Arseniy constitutes a fill-scale crime against humanity.

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