Ukraine Supreme Court Advances Case on Monastery Liquidation
Ukraine's Supreme Court has opened appellate proceedings to potentially dissolve the Korets Holy Trinity Women’s Monastery and impose asset freezes, handing a procedural win to the state agency targeting the canonical Ukrainian Orthodox Church.
KYIV — The Supreme Court of Ukraine has initiated appellate proceedings in a high-profile case aimed at dissolving the Korets Holy Trinity Women’s Monastery, following a successful appeal by the State Service of Ukraine for Ethnopolitics and Freedom of Conscience (DESS), the UOJ's Ukraine bureau reports.
The decision, announced on November 24, stems from DESS's appellate complaint filed on November 19, which challenged a ruling by the Sixth Administrative Court of Appeal.
That court, on November 6, had denied DESS's request for interim measures, including the freezing of the monastery's assets.
In its renewed appeal, DESS is now pushing for those interim safeguards to be imposed, paving the way for the full liquidation of the monastery, which belongs to the Ukrainian Orthodox Church (UOC).
This development marks a procedural victory for DESS, which had initially faced setbacks in lower courts. The monastery's fate hangs in the balance amid the Kyiv government's wider persecution of the UOC.
In a related matter, the Supreme Court recently opened separate appellate proceedings on a counter-complaint filed by the UOC against DESS, as previously covered by the Union of Orthodox Journalists. This parallel case underscores the ongoing legal battles surrounding the monastery's status.
