Why can a thief who stole from AFU walk out of SIZO, while Vladyka Arseniy cannot?

Sviridov the corrupt official and Metropolitan Arseniy. Collage: UOJ

Ukraine’s military intelligence reported the detention of Sviridov, the head of the AFU food supply service in Dnipropetrovsk region. According to the report, he was sending rotten products to the front, pocketing tens of millions in the process. With that money he bought villas in Bali, new cars, and more.

For now, Sviridov is in pre-trial detention – but he can walk out at any moment on bail set at 9 million hryvnias. For someone who reportedly spent 2.5 million hryvnias on clothing alone, that is pocket change. But that is not even the main point.

It has been nearly two years since Metropolitan Arseniy was thrown behind bars. His “crime” amounts to this: in a sermon, he criticized people at checkpoints near the Sviatohirsk Lavra who were blocking pilgrims from reaching the divine services. Both Sviridov and Metropolitan Arseniy are accused of offenses “against the AFU.” And yet the authorities’ attitude toward them could not be more different.

A thief who stole food from soldiers in wartime is granted the right to buy his way out – but a bishop who fed hundreds of broken, homeless refugees has no such right.

“J” stands for “justice.”

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