The head of the Legal Department of the UOC Archpriest Alexander Bakhov calls on law enforcement agencies to give a proper assessment to the calls of the adviser to the mayor of Ivano-Frankivsk on security and law and order issues Nazariy Kishak, which incite religious hatred, as well as to open criminal proceedings under Article 161 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine. This was reported by the Information and Education Department of the UOC.

According to Archpriest Alexander Bakhov, the appearance of Nazariy Kishak’s publication, in which he announced on April 21, 2021 about the need to “cleanse” the monasteries of the UOC, may be related to an attempt to divert public attention from the scandal in the media regarding the situation with the record number of advisers at the mayor of Ivano-Frankivsk. and the exorbitant costs of their maintenance against the background of the budget deficit.

“Adviser to the Mayor of Ivano-Frankivsk Nazariy Kishak posted on his Facebook page an appeal” to clear all Moscow monasteries “, while he indicates the address where the Transfiguration Church of the UOC in Ivano-Frankivsk is located, and attaches a photo of people with weapons and a hashtag” death to enemies, ”said the lawyer. – Thus, Mr. Counselor calls for unlawful and violent actions against believers and institutions of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church. We believe that these calls were made in order to divert attention from the situation around the ultra-high costs for deputies and advisers to the mayor of the city. As it became known from open sources, despite the budget deficit of UAH 500 million, 730 thousand UAH are spent monthly on their maintenance”.

The chairman of the Legal Department of the UOC called on law enforcement officers to give a proper assessment of the activities of N. Kishak, and the mayor of the city to release him from the post of adviser.

“Whatever the motives of Mr. Kishak, we regard his appeals as a real threat, and we appeal to the law enforcement agencies to properly assess these appeals and open criminal proceedings under Article 161 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine incitement to religious hatred. We also believe that a person who calls for violence and incitement to religious hatred cannot occupy such a responsible position. We call on the mayor of Ivano-Frankivsk Ruslan Martsinkiv to release the security and law enforcement advisor Nazariy Kishak,” the lawyer said.

In addition, Archpriest Alexander appealed to representatives of state authorities with a request to refrain from any provocations on religious grounds during Holy Week.

“These days of Holy Week are very important and sacred for believers. We ask, at least for this time, to refrain from provocations and not incite religious hatred,” the priest said.