Amsterdam: Zelensky attacks UOC as he wants to control independent thought

Robert Amsterdam. Photo: The Objective

International lawyer of the UOC Robert Amsterdam published on his X a video with sharp condemnation of the Ukrainian authorities' policy aimed at liquidating the UOC. In his view, the adopted "heinous" law banning the Church is "the first bill to ban religion in Europe since the 1940s". The defender emphasized that the true reasons for persecution lie not in the sphere of security, but in the authorities' desire to suppress any internal freedom.

"The attack by Zelensky on the UOC is based on nothing more than his desire to control all aspects of independent thought," the human rights defender stated. According to Amsterdam, the UOC, which they mistakenly try to present as "a mouthpiece for Russia," is actually "the mouthpiece for the Ukrainian people." The authorities seek to silence it just as they previously did with independent public and social institutions.

The lawyer reported on an important decision by the London Magistrates' Court, which recently rejected Ukraine's request for extradition of MP Artem Dmytruk, who spoke in the Rada in defense of the UOC.

The jurist also criticized the structure of the OCU, calling it "a state church that reports directly to the president's administration." He contrasted it with the UOC as an independent organization with a thousand-year history.

Robert Amsterdam regretfully noted that many representatives of the US Democratic Party ignore the facts of persecution against the Ukrainian Orthodox Church. "They refused to meet with us when we knocked on their doors, not asking for any change in American policy whatsoever, but to simply make them aware of the religious intolerance and suffering going on in Ukraine," the lawyer said.

Earlier, the UOJ wrote that Amsterdam commented on the secret letter of a Phanar hierarch.

Read also