Hierarchs of the local Orthodox Churches, who are members of the international Human Rights Alliance “The Church Against Xenophobia and Discrimination” made a public demand to release Metropolitan Arseniy from detention. The organization says that the arrest of Metropolitan Arseny “is unjustified, unlawful and political in nature”. This is reported by the website of the alliance.
After discussion with the participants of the international human rights alliance “Church against xenophobia and discrimination” the fact of arrest of the hierarch of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church, vicar of the Holy Assumption Svyatogorsk Lavra Metropolitan Arseniy on behalf of the members of our organization we declare:
1. Participants of the international human rights alliance “Church against xenophobia and discrimination” express their conviction that the arrest of Metropolitan Arseniy is unjustified, unlawful and political in nature. This conclusion follows from the official statements of the Security Service of Ukraine and media reports that the reason for the arrest was Metropolitan Arseniy’s disclosure of information about the location of the Territorial Defense Forces in the fall of 2023. As it follows from open sources, Metropolitan Arseniy’s disclosure of such information, if it took place in reality, did not lead to any damage to the AFU and was due to certain reasons, namely, blocking the passage of believers to religious services at checkpoints. Thus, this fact should not have been the basis for the application of such a severe preventive measure as imprisonment.
2. At the same time, the arrest of Metropolitan Arseniy, an influential and authoritative church hierarch of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church, almost simultaneously with the suspicion of Archpriest Mykola Danilevich, the head of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church’s Department of Internal Affairs, as well as the arrest and detention of journalists of the “Union of Orthodox Journalists”, and the prohibition of access to information resources covering the problem of violations of the rights of believers of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church, by the decision of the state body, are considered by us as systematically connected phenomena of suppression of legal activity and religious activity.
3. Participants of the International Human Rights Alliance “Church against Xenophobia and Discrimination”, human rights organizations with consultative status at the UN ECOSOC, international lawyers and journalists who are members of the organization, will take all measures to implement a full range of international legal protection, media campaigns and communication on this case with the diplomatic and international corps of the UN, UNHRC, OSCE, committees and commissions of the EU and the U.S., whose mandates provide control over the observance of human rights in different countries of the world.
4. Participants of the international human rights alliance “Church against Xenophobia and Discrimination” call on the State of Ukraine to immediately release Metropolitan Arseniy, replacing, if necessary, his preventive measure with a milder one that does not involve imprisonment. We are convinced that Metropolitan Arseniy will not interfere with the investigative actions and will appear before the law enforcement authorities when summoned. For their part, the foreign members of the Alliance are ready to provide the State of Ukraine with a personal guarantee for Metropolitan Arseniy so that he is immediately released from custody.
5. The International Human Rights Alliance in response to the systematic persecution of the UOC believers announces the creation of an open international broad movement to protect religious freedom and defend the rights of believers and begins an unlimited international legal, diplomatic and media campaign to defend the rights of believers, especially the arrested hierarchs and clerics of the UOC. We urge all those who are not indifferent to join this movement, expressing their desire for support by sending a short message to the e-mail address: [email protected].
We will remind, the vicar of the Holy Assumption Svyatogorsk Lavra Metropolitan Arseny was sent to the pre-trial detention center. The court ordered to remand the bishop in custody for 2 months without the right to bail.
