The head of the State Service for Ethnopolitics and Freedom of Conscience, Viktor Yelenskyy, has said that the law No 8371 aimed at banning the activities of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church does not actually say this. He said in a comment to Voice of America.

“In fact, there is not a word about the ban in the law. Not a word about the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the Moscow Patriarchate, as well as other churches is not mentioned there. It says that the activity of religious organizations associated with centers that are located in the country that commits aggression against Ukraine is not allowed in Ukraine”, – the head of the SSEF said.

Yelenskyy said that after the adoption of the law, a religious expert examination will be conducted, which will establish whether each religious organization has ties with centers located in Russia. If such ties are established, the civil service will apply to the courts on the matter.

“If there are such links, they are established by a special religious expertise. And if they are established, the SSEF has the right to make a prescription to this religious organization. If they eliminate this connection, they continue to act completely freely. If the church does not break this connection, the SSEF has the right to bring a lawsuit to court. And the court, and only the court, as it should be in a democratic society, will decide whether to stop the activities of this religious organization”, – the official concluded.

It is worth noting that neither the UOC itself nor human rights organizations, which have expressed concern over the adoption of the discriminatory law No. 8371, agree with the position described by Viktor Yelensky. Earlier, we reported that the head of the international law firm Amsterdam & Partners LLP and lawyer of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church, Robert Amsterdam, said that he intended to bring to international responsibility the authors of draft law No 8371 aimed at banning the Ukrainian Orthodox Church.