On December 8, 2022, the priest of the Volodymyr-Volyn diocese, father Svyatoslav Chizhuk from the village of Obenizhi, Volyn region, won a court case against fellow villager Valery Z., who beat him. This is stated in the verdict of the Kovel city district court, published on December 12, reports turiysk.rayon.in.ua.
The court case says that on August 15, 2022, at about 20:00, Valery Z., while in the courtyard of his house, punched priest Svyatoslav Chizhuk in the face. The reason is the wrong, in his opinion, behavior of the victim, who refused to go to the OCU and continued to hold services in the village at the homes of believers.
On the day of the attack, the defendant did not like the fact that the priest dismantled the video cameras that belonged to him in order to repair them. The accused behaved aggressively and punched the priest in the face. He called the police. During a conversation with the police, in her presence, the accused suddenly struck him with another blow with his fist in the face.
The testimonies of the injured priest are confirmed by a video recording, which shows that the accused suddenly, unexpectedly for the victim, in the presence of the police, punched the victim in the face.
The victim priest of the UOC, Father Svyatoslav Chizhuk, told the court that he had served services in the village of Obenizhi for many years, having good relations with everyone, including the accused.
The problem arose when part of the villagers moved to the OCU. According to the priest, along with the church, the house where he lived with his family was taken away from him, and his belongings were put out on the street.
Father Svyatoslav added that attempts to hold services in the homes of parishioners and continue to live in the village caused aggression, resentment and resistance among individual residents of the village, in particular from the side of the accused.
As a result, the court found Valery Z. guilty of committing a criminal offense under Part 1 of Art. 126 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine, and sentenced him to a fine in the amount of 50 non-taxable minimum incomes of citizens, which is 850 hryvnia.
The civil claim of the victim was fully satisfied. In particular, compensation for moral damages in the amount of UAH 5,000 and funds spent by him on legal assistance in the amount of UAH 3,000 were recovered from the accused in favor of the priest.
