Court does not allow an interpreter to participate in Met. Longin's trial

Metropolitan Longin outside the court building. Photo: a screenshot from the YouTube Channel

On May 15, a session of the Hertsa District Court took place in the town of Hertsa concerning the case of Metropolitan Longin (Zhar) of Bancheny, with videos and comments from the lawyer posted on the Bancheny Monastery's YouTube channel.

During the previous session, the judge allowed a Romanian interpreter participate in the process because it was established that Metropolitan Longin did not have sufficient command of the Ukrainian language to understand legal terminology. The interpreter arrived for the session, but the judge changed her decision.

"At the same time, the judge denied the metropolitan a translation of the indictment into Romanian. This means that at the preliminary court hearing, the court determined that he needed the services of a translator/interpreter because he did not have sufficient command of legal terms.

Today, when the interpreter was present, the court denied the translation of the indictment for its own reasons, considering the request to be unfounded.

Due to this, the judge was recused today because of the violation of the metropolitan's right to defense and the right to use his native language," explained the metropolitan's lawyer.

Several dozen believers arrived at the courthouse to support the abbot of the Bancheny Monastery. They held the prayer standing and hoped for a fair decision from the judge.

As reported, Metropolitan Longin of Bancheny of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church previously stated that he is being persecuted for his faith in Christ, rather than for any offences.

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