Baptist leader's remarks on freedom in Ukraine sparks controversy in USA
In the U.S., remarks by Valeriy Antoniuk, head of the Ukrainian Baptist Union, claiming that there is no religious persecution and that Ukraine has a high level of democracy have drawn criticism and sparked controversy within the Christian community.
In his address, the Baptist leader called on the Ukrainian diaspora to engage more actively with American senators, congressmen, and governors to promote Ukraine's interests. Touching on the subject of believers' rights, the union's head dismissed reports of religious freedom violations as merely part of Russian propaganda.
Christian human rights activist and former political prisoner of Soviet labor camps Boris Perchatkin, who resides in the USA, categorically disagreed with Antoniuk's claims. The public figure accused the head of the Baptist Union of openly distorting facts and spreading disinformation to an American audience.
"How many people in Ukraine have been imprisoned for refusing to take up arms, how many pacifists have been jailed, how many Adventists, Jehovah's Witnesses, Pentecostals, Baptists have been imprisoned?" asks Boris Perchatkin. "What happens to them when they are called up into the army? They are fed scraps, forced to demine minefields, and then people are left without arms and legs."
The human rights activist also drew attention to the use of force by TRC officers and the mass attempts by believers to flee the country despite the danger to their lives. "How many killings? And what is the TRC doing there? How many people are fleeing across the Tisza River?" the public figure continued. "People flee at night, swim across, crawl out of a concentration camp. They are caught, shot, and beaten. How many have been shot? People flee, flee, and flee. That is the kind of freedom and democracy they have. What is he, Antoniuk, talking about?"
Furthermore, Perchatkin pointed to the existence of severe restrictions on freedom of speech in Ukraine and raised the question of why hundreds of thousands of citizens are leaving the country en masse. "Clearly they were not fleeing from Ukrainian democracy," the human rights activist concluded.
As the UOJ reported, a congresswoman stated that state repression against freedom of religion in Ukraine requires a response from the US.
