The head of the international human rights company “Amsterdam & Partners LLP” Robert Amsterdam, representing the legal interests of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church published a commentary in which he spoke about the ongoing pressure on the UOC and the next legal steps in the defense of the Church.
“I have the honor of being an advisor to the Holy Synod of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church. I was recently in Kiev and witnessed the intense intimidation, violence and villainy that is taking place in Ukraine against the largest Church. This is a country that has lost its bearings and you can’t write it all off as a war”, – the human rights activist said.
The lawyer noted that the Ukrainian authorities control the media, through which they have launched a whole discrediting campaign against the UOC. In addition, Amsterdam mentioned the arrests of Orthodox media employees.
“And they have control over television, constantly showing propaganda videos against the UOC. Just a few days ago there was a detention of journalists who defended the Ukrainian Orthodox Church. Four of them were jailed and then stated that these individuals could end their lives in prison”, – Amsterdam said.
Robert Amsterdam said he would go to the UN with reports of violations of believers’ rights in Ukraine.
“There is nothing more sacred than the right to freedom of religion. We in the West cannot sit back and allow the Church to be banned, its priests to be beaten. This is unacceptable! We will go to the UN committee with concrete cases of violations of the rights of believers. Let this be a warning to all the ultra-right in Ukraine, who believe that now, when the President is weakened, whose term is coming to an end, they can continue to grossly violate the basic moral and legal principles on which any democratic state is based”, – concluded the lawyer of the UOC.
We shall remind you that earlier we reported that Robert Amsterdam, the head of the Amsterdam & Partners LLP law firm, visited Ukraine in order to legally defend the Ukrainian Orthodox Church.
