Expert on prohibition of the UOC: Those who did so have already lost

Mykhailo Chaplyha. Photo: antikor.com.ua

Political analyst and former Ombudsman representative Mykhailo Chaplyha criticized the adoption of Bill No. 8371, aimed at banning the Ukrainian Orthodox Church (UOC), in an interview with Oleksandr Shelest. In his commentary, he emphasized that such actions indicate the weakness and hypocrisy of those who initiated it.

"I believe that all of this is hypocrisy and weakness. A strong person who is confident in their actions would not pass a law through the Government's Executive Secretariat, crafting some cunning theses, only to later come out and say, 'We want to ban the UOC.' Those who do this have already lost. They have lost morally, politically, and globally. A person who is convinced of their rightness – historically, in the present, legally – would come out and say: 'From the standpoint of the future, history, the present day, and the legal framework, the UOC should be banned – I take responsibility for this,'" Chaplyha stated.

The political analyst also noted that such an approach only highlights the lack of confidence among the initiators of the law and their inability to take responsibility for their actions.

As the UOJ previously reported, Mykhailo Chaplyha stated that as a result of the adoption of the anti-church law No. 8371, believers whose rights are systematically violated could appeal to the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) and win cases there.

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