Photo: SBU
Metropolitan Pavel “shines” a solid prison term
The metropolitan made statements justifying or denying the actions of the aggressor country. This was confirmed by a forensic linguistic examination.
The SBU has collected a substantiated evidence base regarding the involvement of the former rector of the Kiev-Pechersk Lavra Pavel (Peter Lebed) in inciting religious hatred, justifying and denying Russia’s armed aggression against Ukraine. Intercepts of his conversations were made public, according to the website of the special services on Saturday, April 1.
“It has been established that Lebed, in his public speeches, repeatedly insulted the religious feelings of Ukrainians, humiliated the views of believers of other faiths and tried to form hostile attitudes towards them, and also made statements justifying or denying the actions of the aggressor country. This was also confirmed by the forensic linguistics initiated by the Security Service expertise,” the statement said.
The head of the SBU, Vasily Malyuk, said that the law and responsibility for its violation are the same for everyone, and a cassock is not always a guarantee of pure intentions.
Today, the enemy is trying to use the church environment to promote propaganda and split the Ukrainian society. But we won’t give him the slightest chance! The SBU systematically blocks all attempts by Russian special services seeking to use their agents to harm the interests and security of Ukraine,” he said.
Based on the collected evidence, Lebed was informed of the suspicion under the articles:
- violation of the equality of citizens depending on their racial, national, regional affiliation, religious beliefs (part 1 of article 161 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine);
- justification, denial of the armed aggression of the Russian Federation against Ukraine, glorification of its participants in the head code of Ukraine (part 1 of article 436-2).
Searches are being carried out at the places of residence and temporary stay of the person involved.
The SBU recalled that in 2022 it began complex counterintelligence measures (more than 40) in the church environment of the UOC to stop the destructive activities of the pro-Russian clergy. 61 criminal proceedings were initiated against 61 clergymen. In total, the courts have already issued seven sentences against individual clerics who sided with the enemy, including two of them were used in exchange for our military personnel.
According to the materials of the special service, sanctions were imposed on 17 UOC functionaries, and almost 250 clerics were banned from entering Ukraine.
Citizenship of Ukraine was also terminated for 19 clergymen of the UOC, citizens of the aggressor country, forced return to the country of origin was initiated for the clergy of the church, two citizens of Russia.
The SBU emphasized that in their activities they observe the principle of impartiality to the activities of any religious denomination and respect the right of every citizen to freedom of opinion and religion, as defined by the Constitution of Ukraine.
Earlier, the media reported that law enforcement officers handed suspicion to Metropolitan Pavel. Video from the scene appeared in social networks.
Recall that for two days the commission of the Ministry of Culture has not been allowed into the premises of the Kiev-Pechersk Lavra. The department contacted the police.
The day before, it became known that the UOC-MP was sued for blocking access to the Lavra.
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