The case against Metropolitan Pavel of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the Moscow Patriarchate was sent to court.
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The Security Service completed the investigation and sent to court an indictment against the former rector of the Kiev Pechersk Lavra, involved in subversive activities against Ukraine. “Pasha Mercedes” faces up to eight years in prison with confiscation of property. The Security Service of Ukraine reported this on October 20.
The Metropolitan of the UOC-MP is accused under Part 2 of Art. 161 (violation of the equality of citizens depending on their religious beliefs, committed repeatedly by an official) and Part 3 of Art. 436-2 (justification, recognition as lawful, denial of armed aggression of the Russian Federation against Ukraine, committed by an official repeatedly) of the Criminal Code of Ukraine.
Investigators found that the cleric had repeatedly publicly denied the existence of Ukraine as a sovereign state, and also called Russian armed aggression against Ukraine a “civil conflict” that has been ongoing since 2014.
In addition, a forensic linguistic examination initiated by the SBU confirmed the facts of Pavel Lebed’s criminal actions.
Let us remind you that on August 7, Metropolitan Pavel Lebed was released on bail. The court sent the cleric into custody with an alternative of 33.3 million hryvnia bail, and money for it was collected, in particular, through “donations” in the churches of the UOC-MP.
Source: Racurs
I am David Wyatt, a professional writer and journalist for Buna Times. I specialize in the world section of news coverage, where I bring to light stories and issues that affect us globally. As a graduate of Journalism, I have always had the passion to spread knowledge through writing.