Lawyer claims police inaction in case of beating of believers in Cherkasy

The head of the Legal Department of the Cherkasy Eparchy of the UOC Archpriest Georgy Pohranichny said that investigators are inactive and do not perform their functions in the case of beating the believers of the UOC during the seizure of the Church of the Nativity of the All-Holy Theotokos in Cherkasy on 20 November 2023. The lawyer said this in an interview published on the Telegram channel "Dozor_Kozak1".

According to him, a total of five criminal cases were opened after the seizure of the monastery, of which two – on the fact of medium bodily injury, two more – on the fact of light injuries and one case – on the fact of forgery of documents during the re-registration of the temple.

The head of the Legal Department also noted that the lawyers are now petitioning for reclassification of one of the cases on the infliction of bodily injuries from light to medium severity.

"At present, the investigators have interviewed almost all the victims except one. It is not quite clear how the investigator is working. It's already March, and the investigator still hasn't contacted the lawyer in any way, the lawyer contacted him himself. <...> Investigators and law enforcers do not make contact at all. Out of all five cases, there is one investigator who is more or less cooperating, while the others give a "verbal reply" that the lawsuit is on and the case is being considered. But what exactly is being considered in this case, why the persons listed in the statement as the attackers were not interrogated, this is what the investigators are silent about, they don't say anything at all," he said.

In addition, Father Georgy stated that lawyers are not even allowed to familiarize themselves with the materials of the cases on the beating of believers, which are being conducted under the supervision of the military Prosecutor's Office.

"In the beginning, law enforcement responded much faster because we submitted not just statements, but a whole package with expert examinations on the victims and corresponding documents that confirmed it. It seems to me that there is nothing else in the folder of the investigation on each case except our documents. The whole situation points to the investigators' inaction," the eparchy spokesperson added.