In the Rivne region, a court fined a man for criticizing a church community's transition to the OCU

Oleksandr Mosiychuk, a resident of the Rivne region, was found guilty of inciting religious hatred due to comments he posted on Facebook regarding a change in the jurisdiction of the Orthodox parish in the village of Butovo. The Zarechnensky District Court imposed a fine on the man and ordered the confiscation of his cell phone in favor of the state.

According to the news portal ZAXID.NET, the proceedings were prompted by the defendant’s comments under a post about the “transfer” of the local community of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church (UOC) to the OCU. In his posts, Mosiychuk called supporters of the parish’s reaffiliation “Judas who crucify Christ and wage war against God.” In addition, in March of this year, he posted a video on his page criticizing the change in the community’s canonical affiliation.

An expert examination classified these actions as a violation of Part 1 of Article 161 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine (intentional actions aimed at inciting religious discord). During the hearing presided over by Judge Roman Svetlichny, the defendant fully admitted his guilt and entered into a plea agreement with the prosecutor.

Following the review of the case, the court imposed a fine of 3,400 hryvnias on Oleksandr Mosiychuk. As an additional punitive measure, the court ordered the special confiscation of the convicted man’s cell phone. This court decision may still be appealed.

As a reminder, it was previously reported that the Svyatoshinsky District Court of Kyiv found a priest of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church (UOC) guilty of publicly criticizing a decision by the Synod of the Orthodox Church of Ukraine (OCU) and calling it “heresy,” and sentenced him to one year of imprisonment with a three-year probationary period. The clergyman’s posts on Facebook served as the basis for the criminal prosecution.