The Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine has submitted a draft law on amendments to some legislative acts of Ukraine (regarding the prohibition of the production and distribution of information products aimed at promoting the actions of the aggressor state) (reg. No. 5101).

This project is proposed to supplement Part I of Art. 16 of the Law of Ukraine “On Freedom of Conscience and Religious Organizations”, which refers to the termination of the activity of a religious organization in court “in the event that the court establishes the facts of the commission of actions”, which can be interpreted as “violation of the sovereignty and territorial integrity of the state”, “encroachment on the rights and freedom”, etc.

Religious expert, chairman of the State Committee for Nationalities and Religions in 2009-2010, Yuriy Evgenievich Reshetnikov, commented on these legislative initiatives for the Information and Education Department of the UOC.

In particular, he explained that this project is proposed to supplement part I of Article 16 of the Law of Ukraine “On Freedom of Conscience and Religious Organizations” among the definition of grounds for termination of activities in court with a new paragraph 5 of the following content:

“5) if the court establishes that a religious organization has committed actions aimed at: liquidating the independence of Ukraine, changing the constitutional order by violent means, violating the sovereignty and territorial integrity of the state, undermining its security, illegal seizure of state power, propaganda of war, violence, incitement of interethnic, racial, religious hatred, encroachment on human rights and freedoms, public health, propaganda of communist and / or national socialist (Nazi) totalitarian regimes and their symbols; violation of the equality of citizens depending on their racial, national, regional affiliation, religious beliefs, disability and other grounds; dissemination of information containing justification, recognition as legitimate, denial of the armed aggression of the Russian Federation against Ukraine, which began in 2014”.

As noted by Yuri Reshetnikov, “these grounds are quite manipulative.”

“Any criticism of other religious communities and their teachings can be interpreted as incitement to religious hatred, if desired. Under an encroachment on rights and freedoms – one can understand calls for a change in a sinful lifestyle, etc., under an encroachment on health – existing prayer practices, etc., under a violation of the equality of citizens, depending on their religious beliefs and on other grounds – for example, refusal to perform church rites in relation to people who are not faithful to a given religious community, refusal to work in religious organizations for people leading a sinful lifestyle, etc. The orders of many religious organizations provide for clear restrictions on the possibility of being clergy for persons with disabilities,” the religious expert noted.

He also noted that “despite the fact that the authors of the draft law were guided by their hatred of the UOC, the grounds they proposed to terminate the activities of a religious organization in court can be applied to a significant number of religious organizations of other faiths.”

“Consequently, the adoption of this bill is dangerous and such that it poses threats to the observance of freedom of conscience and the activities of religious organizations in accordance with the internal charter,” concluded Reshetnikov.