Amsterdam accuses Channel 5 of false claims

Robert Amsterdam. Photo: screenshot of the YouTube channel "Channel 5"

American lawyer of the UOC Robert Amsterdam, who is now in Ukraine, accused "Channel 5" and "Glavcom", which in their publications called him a "lobbyist of the Russian Orthodox Church", of false reporting. The lawyer published the document on the X network.

"This claim is false and bears all the hallmarks of the sort of weaponized disinformation designed to intimidate and threaten us during our consultations with our client in Kyiv. Neither I nor my firm have ever had any contact nor any relationship whatsoever with the Russian Orthodox Church, Patriarch Kirill, nor any other member of clergy of that institution. We represent the Holy Synod of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church," Amsterdam said and underscored that the Ukrainian authorities had launched a "campaign of persecution" against the Church.

The lawyer said he had tried to contact Channel 5 to persuade them to correct its false reports, but "we are told that local Ukrainian media have been 'instructed' not to speak with us."

"We firmly reject these false claims of any association with the ROC, and we will not be deterred from our work on behalf of the UOC by these crass and unlawful tactics," the lawyer stressed.

We will remind, Amsterdam told Channel 5 that there is no room for banning religions in Europe.

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