Attackers of Ukrainian religious procession brought to trial in Poland

The district court in Przemysl sentenced 19 men to imprisonment from 6 to 14 months for interfering with the procession of Greek Catholics and Orthodox, which in June 2016, after the funeral service for Ukrainian soldiers, followed the streets of the city.

This was reported by European Pravda that cited the Polish Radio.

According to the District Prosecutor's Office in Przemysl, one of the accused persons who pleaded guilty was punished in the form of a four-month deprivation of liberty.

The convicts will be involved in free of charge socially useful work for 30-40 hours a month.

In addition, five men who were brought before to the court for striking and pushing one of the participants in the procession, must pay the victims a fine of 500 zloty each.

This is a somewhat milder punishment than the prosecutor requested. He demanded the deprivation of liberty from 6 months to 2 years for defendants.

The judge, responding to defense arguments, who told about events in Polish-Ukrainian history, said that the court was not to give historical assessments, and the religious event, in particular a mournful one, was neither an appropriate place nor an appropriate time for expressing his views.

According to the indictment of the District Prosecutor's Office in Przemysl, the convicts said insults and obscenities to the participants of the solemn procession because of their nationality and forcibly stopped those who headed the procession, thus hindering its movement.

The victims intend to appeal the verdict. Perhaps this decision is also subject to appeal by the prosecutor's office.

The events related to the trial took place on June 26, 2016, when a group of dozens of people tried to prevent and delay the religious procession of Greek Catholics and Orthodox Christians who, after a memorial service for soldiers of the Ukrainian liberation struggle, headed from the Przemysl Cathedral to a local military cemetery, where the Soldiers of the Ukrainian People's Republic rest.

There they raised prayers for the Sich Riflemen of the Ukrainian Galician Army, who in 1918-1920, being led by Simon Petliura and Jozef Pilsudski fought with the Bolshevik Russia.