UOC Lawyer Takes Up Defense of Priest Abducted in Lutsk

UOC lawyer Archpriest Nikita Chekman has taken on the case of the abduction of Volyn cleric John Kuzminsky. The legal team has already prepared the necessary procedural documents to hold those responsible accountable and to restore the rights of the clergyman.

The legal team has contacted the rector's wife and begun collecting materials regarding the incident in Lutsk. According to the human rights defender, complaints and statements concerning the unlawful actions of the security forces will be submitted to law enforcement agencies in the near future.

Nikita Chekman noted the exceptional cynicism of the situation, in which military commissariat employees openly violated the law. The lawyer reported that representatives of the TCC exerted pressure on witnesses to the forcible seizure.

"Representatives of the TCC, being aware of the unlawful and arbitrary nature of their actions, threatened witnesses and bystanders, urging them not to contact the police and warning that 'things would get even worse,'" the human rights defender stated.

As a reminder, a video recording was circulated online capturing the forcible abduction of the rector of the Church of St. John the Merciful in the village of Liubche. The incident occurred near a shop in Lutsk, where men in balaclavas forcibly pushed a half-dressed man into a bus, despite the protests of bystanders.

As the UOJ reported, the secretary of the Rivne Diocese called on believers to protect their priests.

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