Court leaves abbot of Sviatohirsk Lavra in jail

On November 6, 2024, the Dnipro Court of Appeal held a hearing in the case of the hierarch of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church, the abbot of the Holy Dormition Sviatohirsk Lavra, Metropolitan Arseny (Yakovenko). The court considered the appeals of the defense of Metropolitan Arseniy against the decision of the Sloviansk City District Court of October 8. This decision extended the detention of Metropolitan Arseniy from October 13 for another 2 months. This was reported by the press service of the Assumption Sviatohirsk Lavra.

“In addition to lawyers, the Metropolitan and the prosecutor, MP Victoria Grib also took part in the court hearing. The MP stated before the court of appeal that she was ready to take Bishop Arseny on bail so that he could be released from custody. She also added that at least 10 other MPs representing different political forces also have a desire to vouch for the abbot of the Sviatohirsk Lavra. In their speeches, the lawyers pointed out the violations that, in their opinion, the court of first instance committed when making the decision. They also emphasized that the implementation of this decision led to a violation of the fundamental rights and freedoms of their client, enshrined in the Constitution and other normative acts of Ukraine,” — the press service said.

Metropolitan Arseny’s lawyers suggested that the judges review the record that led to the initiation of the criminal case against the bishop to make sure that the prosecution’s arguments were untenable. However, the judges refused the Metropolitan’s defense lawyers. As a result, the court left Metropolitan Arseny in custody, not granting the lawyers’ request.

“After hearing the defense and prosecution, the Court of Appeal refused to release the Metropolitan’s lawyers and MPs. The next meeting of the Slavic City District Court in the case of Metropolitan Arseny is to be held on November 19, 2024 at 13:00 via video conference,” — the statement concluded.