DESS head: Religious freedom was violated under Yanukovych, not Zelensky
Viktor Yelensky and Volodymyr Zelensky. Photo: OCU
Viktor Yelensky, head of the State Service of Ukraine for Ethnopolitics and Freedom of Conscience (DESS), claimed that the authorities had sought to restrict religious freedom under Viktor Yanukovych, while the law restricting the activities of religious organizations, adopted under Volodymyr Zelensky, fully protects believers’ rights.
According to Yelensky, Ukraine's religious community demonstrated its ability to defend its rights during Yanukovych's presidency. “When the Yanukovych regime tried to restrict religious freedom, society united in opposition,” Yelensky argued.
At the same time, the DESS head sought to justify the current law providing for the dissolution of structures affiliated with the Russian Orthodox Church, claiming that state-imposed bans do not infringe on the rights of worshippers.
“We are not North Korea, where police operations are used to deprive people of the right to pray,” the DESS head insisted. “The goal is very specific: to put an end to the activities of the structures of a religious organization that wants to destroy Ukraine. And we are trying to achieve that goal without infringing on any individual's religious freedom.”
As the UOJ previously reported, religious studies scholar Andriy Kovalev stated that DESS had drafted the law banning the UOC without regard for Ukraine's interests.
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