Court denies urgent hospitalization for Metropolitan Arseniy

Metropolitan Arseniy in a pre-trial detention facility. Photo: Sviatohirsk Lavra

On 20 and 21 January, the Chechelivskyi District Court of Dnipro considered the question of the preventive measure for Metropolitan Arseniy of Sviatohirsk, the abbot of the Holy Dormition Sviatohirsk Lavra, the Lavra’s website reports. Following the hearings, the hierarch’s detention was extended for 60 days.

Metropolitan Arseniy took part in the hearings online. On 20 January, the 31st anniversary of his appointment as abbot of the Sviatohirsk Lavra, he stated that he requires heart surgery.

On 21 January, during the hearing, one of Kyiv’s professors of medicine who had prepared an expert medical opinion on the metropolitan’s condition emphasized that the Dnipro doctors “have shown themselves to be absolutely incompetent.” According to him, Metropolitan Arseniy’s complex case requires a full examination in specialized clinics – in Dnipro there is no necessary equipment. The hierarch needs inpatient treatment and rehabilitation after a year and nine months in pre-trial detention. The medications currently prescribed, the expert said, “not only do not help – they cause harm.”

The judge denied hospitalization in Kyiv. The lawyers succeeded in securing a broadcast of the court hearings on the “Judicial Power of Ukraine” YouTube channel.

Earlier, the UOJ reported that the court left Metropolitan Arseniy behind bars for another 60 days.

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