Lavra's lawyer reports to police on attempt to disrupt service for 6th time

Anti-church "activists" and the police near the Church of St. Sergius of Radonezh. Photo: “KozakTv1” Telegram channel

On September 29, 2023, Dmitry Tsvetov, the lawyer for the Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra, submitted his sixth complaint to the Pechersk District Police Department regarding obstruction of religious services near the monastery, reports the “KozakTv1” Telegram channel.

In the statement, it is mentioned that during the religious service conducted by the Lavra clergy at the St. Sergius of Radonezh Church, four "activists," using megaphones, insulted the religious beliefs of parishioners and defamed the Church.

The lawyer notes that these actions could be classified as a criminal offence under Article 180, Part 1 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine (unlawful obstruction of a religious rite, which disrupted or endangered the religious rite).

The lawyer called on law enforcers to enter the information presented in the complaint into the Unified Register of Pretrial Investigations.

The penalty under this article includes a fine of up to three thousand tax-exempt minimum incomes, community service for a period of 120 to 240 hours, arrest for up to six months, restriction of freedom for up to two years, or imprisonment for the same term.

As reported, the Pechersk District Court of Kyiv granted a complaint by the lawyers of the Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra, obliging the district police department to enter information about the offence committed by "activists" near the monastery on September 18 into the Unified Register of Pretrial Investigations and initiate a pretrial investigation into the case.

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