UOC lawyer Robert Amsterdam recently returned from Kiev and recorded a video in his X in which he shared his impressions of the visit.

“Yesterday I returned from Kiev, where I met with the leaders of the Holy Synod of the UOC. I’m making this quick video because there is a document circulating around Washington from the Law and Liberty Trust organization, which is absolutely meaningless from a legal point of view, and is trying to somehow protect the hate speech contained in Bill 8371, by which Ukraine is trying to pass a ban on the UOC”, – the lawyer said.

The human rights activist emphasized that “there is very little religious freedom in Ukraine. I met with many priests and bishops of the UOC, and each of them was interrogated by the secret police, the SSU, which set out to destroy the Church. One of them was interrogated so aggressively that he had a heart attack the same day.”

Amsterdam also said that he met with Rada deputies who are “so frustrated with their lack of freedom that they say their lives are hell. They were interrogated by the SSU”.

“I will bring all these people, their names, to Washington when I come next week to meet with members of Congress and urge them to send a letter to Mr. Stefanchuk, who heads the Rada. To ask him, first, to refer this incredibly illegal bill to the Venice Commission, which was founded by the Europeans. This will be useful to bring a certain rule of law back to Ukraine”, – he said.

At the same time, the lawyer intends to “ask Congress to approve and do everything possible to help Ukrainians. Because the bottom line of all of this – blind loyalty and giving up their own valuable freedoms, such as freedom of media and religion and trying to shut up their opponent – is not the way to ally with this country”.

“We must tell them to stop persecuting the UOC. Stop the religious cleansing, and for God’s sake, control the secret police, which reminds me more of Stalinist Russia than any form of democracy and democratic behavior known to man”, – stressed the lawyer.

We shall remind you that earlier we wrote that Robert Amsterdam, the head of the law firm Amsterdam & Partners LLP, visited Ukraine with the purpose of legal defense of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church.