UOC Sisterhood urges the President to dismiss the head of Khmelnytsky RMA

On July 28, 2022, the All-Ukrainian Sisterhood of Mary Magdalene (UOC) sent the President of Ukraine Vladimir Zelensky an official appeal “On the termination of the powers of the head of the Khmelnytsky Regional Military Administration Sergey Gamaliy”. This was announced by an employee of the Office of the President of Ukraine, assistant and consultant to the deputy of the Kamyanets-Podilsky City Council, lawyer and human rights activist Victoria Kokhanovskaya on her Facebook page.

The parishioners of the UOC noted that during the office of Gamaliy as the head of the Khmelnytsky Regional State Administration, “enforcement of law and order, as well as observance of the rights and freedoms of citizens of Ukraine” has deteriorated considerablyin the region. The authors of the appeal recalled that Gamaliy adopted over 30 illegal orders that violate the right to freedom of religion of the parishioners of the UOC in the Khmelnytsky region. In particular, abusing his power, he changed the canonical subordination of the religious communities of the UOC, transferring them to the OCU. This was done illegally through forged documents and against the will of members of the religious community, which falls under Articles 205.1, 206, 358, 365.2 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine. In addition, Article 14 of the Law of Ukraine “On Freedom of Conscience and Religious Organizations” and Article 25 of the Law of Ukraine “On State Registration of Legal Entities, Individual Entrepreneurs and Public Associations” were grossly violated.

The appeal notes that the law enforcement agencies of the Khmelnytsky region turn down or complicate the registration of criminal cases on these facts, which does not allow to effectively protect and redress the violated rights of citizens.

Based on the foregoing and guided by Article 23-1 of the Law of Ukraine "On Citizens' Appeals", the Sisterhood requests the President to terminate the powers of the chairperson of the Khmelnytsky Military Regional Administration Sergey Gamaliy and initiate criminal proceedings to verify the stated facts for the term of Gamaliy's office as chairperson of the Khmelnytsky Military Administration.

As the UOJ wrote, the Sisterhood of the UOC appealed to the EU Commission because of the violation of the rights of believers.

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