Attack on UOC is not a national security matter: Amsterdam names 5 facts

Robert Amsterdam. Photo: charlierose.com

American lawyer for the UOC Robert Amsterdam stated that the full-scale attack on the Ukrainian Orthodox Church had culminated in Bill No. 8371 "On the prohibition of the church and the destruction of freedom of religion in Ukraine". In a new article published on the savetheuoc.com website, the lawyer refutes the Ukrainian authorities' claim that the ban on the Church is in any way a matter of national security.

The lawyer noted that Bill 8371 had been tightened to ensure that thousand-year-old Ukrainian Orthodox Church cannot but be destroyed by its passage.

"The latest iteration of the Bill would appear to imply that after the government has stolen the physical assets of the Church it may become impossible for believers to even congregate together in prayer, in a backyard or a garage (a practice that is ongoing in certain areas where the Church is already banned by the local authorities)," the article says.

The lawyer warns that the destruction of the rule of law, the Constitution of Ukraine, freedom of speech, freedom of religion, the European Convention and elections does not constitute a model of successful mobilization.

In his opinion, "the preposterous claim that the attack on the Church is somehow a national security matter runs up against the reality on the ground."

"Firstly, our Church has denounced the war frenzy of Russia and disassociated itself completely from administrative controls or even relationships with Moscow. Secondly, in all of the phony prosecutions and recent jailings of hierarchs of the Church display no evidence of actual communication with Russian agents. Thirdly, Ukraine faces a fifth column, indeed that places the life of President Zelensky regularly in danger. That fifth column is constituted by its own security services that are hopelessly penetrated by the FSB. Fourthly, of all clerics killed by Russian fire, 50% of them are members of our Church," he explains.

The human rights activist also points out that "up to today, over 1,500 churches have been transferred to the new state church that was formed In January 2019 and which is to the embarrassment of the Ukrainian Government and the US Government not widely thought as legitimate in the Orthodox world."

As the UOJ wrote, Amsterdam sent a letter to the UN High Commissioner on the campaign against the UOC.

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