Amsterdam: UOC believers are being scapegoated in Ukraine
The lawyer believes that attacks on the UOC are a way for the President to consolidate power.
Robert Amsterdam, the lawyer representing the Ukrainian Orthodox Church (UOC), stated in an interview with the American channel Jesus Christ’s CEOs TV that Ukraine’s leadership is exploiting the situation surrounding the UOC for political goals.
"People are being scapegoated. The government is not terribly popular, and going after our Church is a way for Mr. Zelensky to consolidate power," Amsterdam said. He noted that similar situations can be observed in other countries as well.
Answering the question about his experience in defending religious freedom, Amsterdam said that this issue is not widely accepted and there are tremendous challenges worldwide.
"Ukraine is about to ban a thousand-year-old Orthodox Church. We have terrible problems in the Middle East, trying to defend Christians who are facing persecution in many countries of the Middle East. We also have issues with religious minorities in various African countries, where religious persecution is ongoing," the lawyer stated.
In his opinion, freedom of religion is a "touchstone that all too many companies and sovereigns don't place the proper weight on. Without religious freedom, there is no foundation for human rights, and, by the way, there is no foundation for business rights."
However, there is a loss of universal attraction in religious freedom nowadays, according to Robert Amsterdam.
Earlier, the UOJ reported that, according to Robert Amsterdam, the U.S. government funded the persecution of the UOC.
