Yelensky complains courts are hearing hundreds of cases over OCU “transfers”
The head of DESS said courts in Vinnytsia region alone are hearing more than 100 lawsuits challenging the “transfer” of religious communities to the OCU.
Viktor Yelensky, head of the State Service of Ukraine for Ethnopolitics and Freedom of Conscience (DESS), complained that believers and lawyers are challenging the reassignment of religious communities to the OCU in court, with more than 100 such lawsuits being heard in Vinnytsia region alone.
According to the official, OCU supporters face difficulties primarily because the procedures for convening and conducting parish meetings are being challenged in court. Yelensky expressed frustration that repeated lawsuits and determined legal opposition are delaying the “transfer” process, forcing decisions to undergo lengthy court proceedings before they can be upheld.
Earlier, the UOJ reported that the Supreme Court had sent a case concerning the “transfer” of a UOC church in Kremenchuk back for reconsideration. The church's rector argued that the decision to “transfer” had been made by people who were not members of the religious community and that the meeting had been held without the required quorum.
