International law form Amsterdam and Partners LLP has denounced the Ukrainian government for its “illegal imprisonment and torture” of Metropolitan Arseniy of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church (UOC).
The UOC was previously linked with the Moscow Patriarchate but declared independence in May 2022, following the intensification of the current conflict between Russia and Ukraine.
Despite affirming his loyalty to Ukraine, Arseniy was arrested in April of last year by the SBU, the Ukrainian secret police, due to a sermon in which he mentioned the presence of nearby Ukrainian army checkpoints.
The SBU are responsible for Ukrainian security and have claimed responsibility for a number of assassinations, including Russian military leaders, a former Ukrainian MP with pro-Russian views, and a blogger aligned with the Russian Wagner mercenary group.
Arseny was accused of revealing army positions to the enemy, however his lawyers say that the checkpoints were not even manned at the time of the sermon, nor did any come under attack following the sermon. Action was only taken against Arseny when, months after delivering the sermon, he criticised persecution of the UOC.
The Ukrainian government, critics argue, is aggressively pushing the state-backed Orthodox Church of Ukraine (OCU) at the expense of the UOC. Priests have been arrested and assaulted, and church assets forcibly transferred from one denomination to the other.
Amsterdam and Partners LLP argue that Law 3894, adopted in August of last year, establishes the “legal framework to ban the UOC”. The bill has been condemned by the World Council of Churches, the Church of England, and the late Pope Francis among others.
Robert Amsterdam, founder and Managing Partner of Amsterdam & Partners LLP, said, “I wish to reiterate again that the authorities’ conduct in relation to the UOC, of which Metropolitan Arseniy’s case is emblematic, involves a full-scale crime against humanity.
"This crime is being prosecuted by President Zelensky and others involved in state-organised systematic attacks on civilians for their membership in the UOC.
“May the eyes and ears of all members of the Orthodox faith and other faiths be directed to this shameful and merciless theatre of the absurd that is going on throughout the Ukrainian courts, orchestrated by the Ukrainian secret police – the SBU.”
