If the bill on collaborationists, prepared by the Servant of the People party, is adopted, the dioceses that (or some of which) are located on the territory of Donbass not controlled by Kiev may be the first to be hit, religious expert Alexei Smirnov told “Strana”.

According to him, by a court decision it will be possible to ban the work of entire diocesan administrations or individual church communities.

Thus, the document proposes to supplement part 4 of article 16 of the law “On freedom of conscience and religious organizations” with the following clause:
– conviction of her authorized persons for a criminal offense against the foundations of the national security of Ukraine, provided for in Article 111-1 of the Criminal Code (on high treason).

“It should be noted that the law“ On freedom of conscience ”refers to a religious organization as a legal entity. However, in Ukraine, religious associations are not legal entities. This is the status of individual communities or diocesan administrations. Therefore, if we follow the legal logic, the whole Church cannot be banned for offenses committed by its individual clerics. Unless a separate diocesan administration or community may come under attack.

However, it cannot be ruled out that in this case, legal accuracy will be sacrificed to political expediency and an overly broad interpretation of the violation of the foundations of national security, ”the religious scholar said.