Court rejects motion to recuse judge in Metropolitan Arseny's case

on September 18, 2025 the Slavyansk City District Court considered and rejected the application for recusal of the presiding judge T. A. Haustova in the case of Metropolitan Arseniy of Sviatogorsk. The defense side claimed gross procedural violations during the hearing. This informs the resource of the Sviatogorsk Lavra.

The meeting to consider the application for recusal was chaired by Judge O. A. Solovyova. According to the defense, the hearing was opened despite the fact that three of the five lawyers were absent for valid reasons. During the hearing not all participants of the process were given the floor, in particular, Metropolitan Arseny was not heard. It is noted that due to the absence of the lawyer who filed the application, the case materials did not contain documents exhaustively arguing the need for recusal.

In addition, part of the materials, including video recording, the statement of Judge T. A. Haustova and the journal of the court session, was attached to the case directly during the hearing. In this regard, the defense filed a motion to postpone the hearing in order to get acquainted with the new materials and for proper preparation.

The judge left for the deliberation room to consider the motion for postponement, but upon her return she announced the decision on the main issue — the recusal of Judge T. A. Haustova was denied. The date and time of the next hearing in the case of Metropolitan Arseniy will be announced additionally.

Recall, on September 10, 2025 Slavyansk City District Court of Donetsk region held another preparatory hearing in the case of the hierarch of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church Metropolitan Sviatogorskiy Arseniy. During the hearing, the judges authorized the bishop’s medical examination and treatment within the SIZO