UOC priest sentenced to 4 years in prison in Khmelnytsky region for “inciting religious hatred”

The Slavuta City District Court of Khmelnytsky Region found guilty and sentenced to four years in prison a priest of the Shepetivka Diocese of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church, Archpriest Nikolai Khlan. The priest was accused of inciting religious hatred and justifying the aggression of the Russian Federation against Ukraine. This is reported on the website of the Unified State Register of Court Decisions.

According to the investigation, Archpriest Nikolai Khlan allegedly publicly justified the actions of the Russian Federation, calling the war in Ukraine a “civil conflict.” “During the liturgies, he praised Putin and accused the Ukrainian authorities of starting the war. He also spread Kremlin narratives on social networks, in particular on VKontakte, where he spread fakes about events in Ukraine and insulted parishioners of other religious communities,” – the statement said.

The clergyman was sentenced to 4 years in prison and banned from “holding the position of a priest” for 3 years.

It is noteworthy that at the beginning of the criminal prosecution of Archpriest Nikolai Khlan, the charges against the priest were formulated somewhat differently. Earlier we reported that on May 10, 2023, his house was searched. He was charged with Article 161 (Part 1) of the Criminal Code of Ukraine (incitement to religious hatred) for negative statements “regarding the transfer of churches from the UOC-MP to the Orthodox Church of Ukraine, as well as criticism of the activities of the OCU leadership.”