Court in Cherkasy refuses to return passport to Metropolitan Theodosius of the UOC-MP to travel to the UN
The Sosnovskyy district court in Cherkasy has rejected a defense motion to return the foreign passport of Metropolitan Theodosius of Cherkasy and Kanevskyy. The defense asked to return the document for the bishop’s trip to the UN Council meeting, but the prosecutor’s office objected, pointing to the high risk that the accused could flee from justice abroad.
As Suspilne Cherkasy reports, during the court session on October 9, lawyer Volodymyr Yudin said that his client had received an invitation from an advisory organization to testify at the UN Council meeting regarding the situation of the UOC in Ukraine. In this regard, the defense asked to cancel the obligation to keep his passport with state authorities, imposed as part of the preventive measure.
Prosecutor Vadym Kolomiets objected to the satisfaction of the motion, noting that the risk of escape of the accused not only remains, but has increased. He drew the court’s attention to the fact that the invitation and the trial were mentioned in his speech by the speaker of the Russian Foreign Ministry Maria Zakharova. «This indicates that the aggressor state is interested in his departure abroad,» the prosecutor emphasized. In addition, the prosecution pointed to the lack of evidence of the metropolitan’s intention to return, such as return tickets.
Metropolitan Theodosius himself, who participated in the session via video link, assured the court of his intention to return to Ukraine. «The risk is that I will return. If I did not return, it would be a holiday for the entire prosecutor’s office. But I will come back,» he stated. He also added that he does not know who Zakharova is, as he does not watch Russian television.
Having heard the arguments of the parties, the judge after the meeting decided to deny the defense motion. The trial in the case, in the framework of which Metropolitan Theodosius was announced five suspicions in two years, continues. At the moment he is under personal commitment.
We will remind, earlier we reported that Metropolitan of Cherkassy and Kanevsk Feodosiy (Snigirev) spoke at a meeting of the UN Human Rights Council, where he stated about the violation of the rights of clergymen of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church (UOC) in the process of mobilization. According to him, the selective deprivation of UOC clerics of the right to deferment, which is granted to other confessions, is direct discrimination and violates Ukraine’s international obligations to ensure equality of all religions.