Earlier, we reported that the International Human Rights Organization Human Rights Watch criticized Law No. 3894 (formerly No. 8371), aimed at banning the activities of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church. The organization believes that the law banning the UOC grossly violates human rights to freedom of conscience and, according to its provisions, will make it impossible for Ukraine’s largest religious denomination to function. Human Rights Watch called on the Ukrainian government to stop the implementation of Law No. 3894 and send it to the Venice Commission for legal expertise.
OCU head: We have freedom of religion in Ukraine that is not available in some European countries
The head of the OCU, Epiphany Dumenko, claims that there is no violation of freedom of conscience in Ukraine. Moreover, according to Dumenko, Ukraine has the highest level of religious freedom in Europe. At the same time, according to Dumenko, the information about the persecution of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church is “Russian narratives,” and those UOC priests who are arrested and held in prison are to blame for what happened because they encroached on national security. He said this in an interview with Apostrophe TV.
“We have no violation of freedom of religion. Any Republican administration in recent decades has been working to maintain a balance of religious freedom in the world. It is the Moscow church that provides information that there are persecutions and persecutions in Ukraine. In fact, this is not the case. In Ukraine, we have the freedom of religion that some European countries do not have, even though we are at war. Therefore, we have no worries. We do not violate anything. Those clergymen of the Moscow Patriarchate who are now under investigation are responsible for their actions as citizens. Everyone is equal before the law. This concerns the security of the Ukrainian state, not freedom of religion. We are convinced that this freedom will be preserved in the future,” – Dumenko said.
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