Lawyer of Lavra's Vicar: The defense considers the suspicion announced to Metropolitan Pavel unfounded

On April 4, 2023, the first interrogation of Metropolitan Pavel of Vyshgorod and Chernobyl took place as a suspect. This is reported by the Information and Educational Department of the UOC with reference to the website lavra.ua.

The bishop’s lawyer, priest Nikita Chekman, said that the governor of the Lavra provided all the evidence that interested the investigation. However, due to the fact that during the consideration of the petition for the election of a preventive measure, electronic evidence of the prosecution was not provided, the lawyers, taking into account the provision of the right to defense, filed a petition in accordance with Art. 221 of the Code of Criminal Procedure of Ukraine (familiarization with the materials of criminal proceedings).

For unknown reasons, this request has not yet been granted. Considering all the circumstances, the lawyer emphasized that the defense considers the suspicion announced to Metropolitan Pavel to be unfounded.

In addition, as the lawyer noted, today, April 5, at 14:00, the full text of the Resolution of the Shevchenkovsky District Court of Kyiv on the election of a measure of restraint for Metropolitan Pavel is expected to be announced.