UN demands not to evict Crimean Diocese of OCU from the Cathedral
The UN Human Rights Committee once again demands from Russia not to evict the Crimean Diocese of the OCU from the Cathedral. This was reported on Facebook by Serhiy Zayets, a representative of the parishioners, an expert of the Regional Human Rights Center, Telegraph reports.
“While at the OSCE session on the human dimension in Warsaw, representatives of the Russian Federation say that everything is in going well in Crimea, in Simferopol, the seizure of the last remaining temple continues,” he said.
Zayets also added that according to the decision of the occupation court, the representatives of the OCU must vacate the premises by September 23.
On June 8, the Arbitration Court of Crimea decided to terminate the lease agreement, which before the occupation was concluded with the Crimean Diocese of the UOC-KP.
The ‘court’ ordered the Church to return the premises to the “Ministry of Property and Land Relations” of the Crimea and to collect 12 thousand rubles of state fee to the budget of the Russian Federation. The reason for the termination of the agreement was the debt in the amount of 2,3 UAH.
On July 24, the Cathedral of Sts Volodymyr and Olha of the OCU was robbed. According to Archbishop Klyment of the Crimean Diocese of OCU, all the church items of the Crimean diocesan management were stolen from the temple.
He noted that the ‘Minister of Property and Land Relations’ of Crimea, Anna Anyukhina, organized under the guise of ‘internal repair’ the ruin of the temple, while Klyment was attending a conference on religious freedom in Washington.
On August 2, the occupation authorities of Crimea again refused to register the Crimean Diocese of the Orthodox Church of Ukraine.
On August 19, the Department of the Crimean Diocese appealed the decision of the “arbitration court of Crimea in the action of the Ministry of Property and Land Relations of Crimea” on termination of the lease of the Cathedral in Simferopol.
On August 29, more than 50 parishioners of the OCU in Crimea appealed to the UN Human Rights Committee regarding the seizure by the occupants of the last Church of the Crimean Diocese of the OCU.
On September 3, the Court of Appeal in Sevastopol upheld the court's decision to evict the Crimean diocese of the OCU from the Cathedral of the Holy and Equal-to-the-Apostles Princes Volodymyr and Olha.
On September 9, the UN Human Rights Committee banned Russia to evict the Crimean Diocese of the OCU from a temple in occupied Simferopol.
Human rights activists have been recording the facts of how the Russian authorities in the occupied Crimea systematically violate freedom of religion for several years.
The head of the Crimean Human Rights group Olha Skrypnyk noted that during the occupation of Crimea, almost all religious communities and organizations were subject to harassment, restrictions, persecution, except the Church of the Moscow Patriarchate.
