MOSCOW, July 15. /TASS/. The court’s decision to arrest Metropolitan Pavel, the abbot of the Kiev-Pechersk Lavra monastery, is illegal as he is a diabetic patient, lawyer Nikita Chekman, who represents the interests of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church, said.
"The court’s decision is absolute anarchy under the shelter of justice. Metropolitan Pavel has been put behind bars for artificial reasons, though he is an elderly person and a diabetic patient, he is insulin-dependent. The defense cited the norms of the European Court of Human Rights that virtually bound Ukraine to pay out money to the claimant that was sent to the detention center with DM. Under custodial circumstances the diet, nutrition and insulin injections cannot be ensured properly," he said in a video posted on his Telegram channel.
Earlier, Kiev’s district court granted the Ukrainian Security Service’s motion and changed detention conditions for Metropolitan Pavel from round-the-clock house arrest to detention in custody with the possibility of bail of over 33 million hryvnas (over $900,000). The RBC Ukraine news agency said that the court put the archbishop under arrest until August 14. Prosecutors asked the court to place the archbishop of the canonical Ukrainian Orthodox Church into custody until September 1, with the possibility of 60-million-hryvna bail ($1.64 million). The high-ranking clergyman said at the beginning of the hearing that he would be arrested with a 99% probability.
In late March 30, the authorities terminated the lease agreement with the canonical Ukrainian Orthodox Church and demanded that the monks leave the monastery. The UOC monks refused to follow the demands, dubbing them as illegal. Both sides took the case to court. On April 1, the Ukrainian Security Service charged the abbot with inciting religious hatred and justifying Russia’s actions. He was placed under round-the-clock house arrest for 60 days, which was extended several times. On June 30, Kiev’s district court once again extended the abbot’s house arrest for two more months. Metropolitan Pavel said that he had received an offer from law enforcers to close his case provided that he would no longer speak out against the schismatic Orthodox Church of Ukraine (OCU) and its head Epifany. On July 13, the Ukrainian Security Service charged the about with repeatedly violating the equal rights of citizens based on religious beliefs and with justifying Russia’s actions, and filed a request to remand the archbishop in custody.