Kyiv Eparchy cleric: Police put our complaints in folder without examining

Archimandrite Longin, the head of the parish council of the UOC community of the Nativity of Theotokos in the village of Ivankiv, Kyiv region, told human rights activist Viktoria Kokhanovska that all complaints about violations of believers' rights and the illegal re-registration of the parish remain unanswered. 

More than 30 criminal cases have been opened by UOC believers since 2019, when the persecution of the community by OCU supporters began. 

Four more criminal cases have now been opened and a fifth is being opened, but the police are not responding, not investigating anything, despite all the evidence the UOC parish provides. 

"They put all our papers in folders and then close the case due to the statute of limitations," the priest says. 

In addition, the UOC cleric said that he wrote one of the applications on August 3, and it is still not registered. 

Parishioners have also applied to the Ministry of Justice and to the court over the illegal re-registration of the community. The case of illegal re-registration will be heard at the next meeting. 

According to the archimandrite, as an ordinary citizen of Ukraine, he expects protection from the law enforcement agencies and the authorities, but in fact the agencies do not act, and the authorities become the organizers of the division of society and the incitement of interfaith discord. 

As reported, to seize the Church of the Nativity of Theotokos in Ivankiv, OCU raiders repeatedly resorted to dirty techniques, including manipulation of the registry. In early 2019, an initiative group of the local residents who are not members of the religious community held an impromptu meeting about the transfer to the OCU. Local deputies joined the attempts to seize the UOC temple.

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