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Metropolitan Pavel ordered to stay under house arrest outside Kiev-Pechersk Lavra

The archbishop asked the judge to let him either stay in the monastery or come to the Kiev-Pechersk Lavra for services, but the court denied his request for attending services of worship

MOSCOW, April 1. /TASS/. A court in Kiev has ordered Metropolitan Pavel of the canonical Ukrainian Orthodox Church (UOC), the abbot of the Kiev-Pechersk Lavra, to stay under 60-day house arrest outside the capital of Kiev, far from the monastery, wearing an ankle bracelet, the Ukrainian publication Strana reported on Saturday.

Under the court’s ruling, the archbishop will have to remain in a village outside Kiev, located 42 kilometers from the monastery, under house arrest.

The archbishop asked the judge to let him either stay in the monastery or come to the Kiev-Pechersk Lavra for services, but the court denied his request for attending services of worship.

However, Metropolitan Pavel will be able to upload videos. The prosecution insisted that it be banned, but the court denied the request.

On Saturday, Ukraine’s Security Service (SBU) charged Metropolitan Pavel with inciting religious hatred and justifying Russia’s actions in Ukraine. His rooms at the Kiev-Pechersk Lavra were searched and then the archbishop was taken to court for deciding on his pretrial detention. The elderly clergyman felt unwell in the court hall, so the hearing was put off until Monday. However, it was decided later that the hearing would take place on Saturday evening and that the archbishop, who was in a hospital, would be forcibly brought to court. In the end, the court ordered to place the abbot under house arrest for 60 days.

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