Fylypovych slams law 8371: Shall we send millions of Ukrainians to GULAGs?

Liudmyla Fylypovych. Photo: un-sci.com

Doctor of Philosophy, professor at the Skovoroda Institute of Philosophy of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine, Liudmyla Fylypovych believes that the adoption of bill No. 8371 in its latest version will have negative consequences for Ukraine's image in the world. In an interview with the Frankivsk regional television Halychyna, she said that the mechanism for banning the UOC in this law is absolutely not well thought out and unrealistic to implement.

Fylypovych noted that in the initial version of the bill, which was previously voted on, it was not clearly stated that it was directed against the Ukrainian Orthodox Church. After it was adopted in the first reading, about 1200 amendments were made to this law.

"If the initial form was quite neutral, now it is absolutely radical. It has become radicalized, and there are indeed direct bans on the activities of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church. For our country, it is quite a risk because voices against this law will rise on the international stage, as Western partners are very sensitive to any persecution or restrictions on freedom of conscience and religion," she suggested.

At the same time, the religious scholar negatively mentioned the international human rights activities of lawyer Robert Amsterdam, emphasizing that by defending its interests, the UOC harms the country's image.

Furthermore, Liudmyla Fylypovych lamented that the expert community was not allowed to consider the new version of the bill. In her opinion, it emerged absolutely unprepared for implementation in practice due to the insufficient competence of deputies, who were "trained for three months in Truskavets on how to prepare and adopt laws."

According to the doctor of philosophy, people do not fully understand how difficult it will be to ban the UOC in the legal plane.

"The most important thing is that this law in the second reading does not specify the mechanisms for how to actually do it. How do you imagine this? That we will throw all believers, in the amount of 5-10 million, into 'cargo trains' and send them where? To the Gulags, to Sakhalin, to the Magadan region? Do you want to fill prisons with these people? They will not stop acting. They will continue to do so, only in a closed, catacomb-like manner. They will gather 'quietly', and they will treat the Ukrainian state even worse. Therefore, we need to think very carefully about the consequences of this ban," the religious scholar stated.

As reported by the UOJ, Liudmyla Fylypovych called for dispatching the MPs, who proposed to send the bill banning the UOC to the Venice Commission, to trenches.

According to the American lawyer for the UOC Robert Amsterdam, "Those seeking to advance Draft Bill 8371 in Ukraine must understand the grave consequences that come with such an egregiously illegal violation of human rights."

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