Lawyer of an UOC (MP) clergyman in Cherkasy obstructs the work of journalists (Video)

Photo: 18000

In Cherkasy, lawyer Ihor Holubchyk prevented journalists from the local newspaper "18000" from covering a public meeting of supporters of UOC (MP) Metropolitan Bishop Theodosius near the Cherkasy District Prosecutor's Office. This was reported on the newspaper's website.

At that moment, the clergyman himself was inside the Prosecutor's Office, where he was being interrogated for an investigation. His church's parishioners gathered in front of the building.

As the publication notes, Holubchyk, together with other representatives of the clergyman's support group, tried to prevent journalists Yelena Shchepak and Arthur Chemyris from legally doing their job, and eventually filed a statement against them to the police.

According to him, the journalists were invading his privacy by filming and taking pictures of the events, which were happening in a public space – the territory adjacent to the Cherkasy District Prosecutor's Office. At first, Ihor Holubchyk and some other unidentified persons were simply covering the journalists' cameras, and then started pushing the journalists away from Theodosius, who was exiting the Prosecutor's Office, where he had spent a little over an hour.

"I have seen people like you, people who smile, whose smile fades for some reason when they are invited not just for questioning, when a criminal case is opened against them," Holubchyk told journalists.

The journalists were not hiding that they were correspondents as they filmed, openly explaining that they were media representatives. However, Holubchyk, who not only introduced himself as Theodosius's lawyer, but also claimed to represent the entire community of parishioners, refused to give his last name.

As Yelena Shchepak told an IMI representative, she and her colleague Arthur Chemyris wanted the metropolitan to comment on his feelings about being handed a suspicion notice and whether he agrees with the allegations.

"According to the SBU, the clergyman possessed a document featuring Putin's portrait, which has been seized from him, and supervised the dirstribution of content about ruscism. As we approached the Prosecutor's Office, we were immediately intercepted by an unknown person who introduced himself as Theodosius's lawyer. The man claimed that we were invading his privacy (mind you that the events were taking place on the street) and forbade us to film not only himself, but also about a hundred of Theodosius' supporters, who were praying at that time. More yet: when Theodosius came out of the building, his supporters surrounded him and started waving hands and bags to cover the phone cameras, and some were simply trying to push us away, saying, "Get lost, lad." To finish off this incredible event, Theodosius's lawyer filed a police statement against us, and Arthur and I had to provide an explanation," the journalist said.

As IMI reported, on February 20, the SBU issued a suspicion notice for inciting inter-religious enmity to the head of the UOC (MP) Cherkasy Diocese. According to the investigation, the metropolitan has made public statements among clergymen and parishioners, as well as official comments, which contained calls that violate citizens' right to equality regardless of their racial, national, regional background and beliefs. Also, under his supervision, the administrator of the diocese's departmental website posted hostile content from the ROC's propaganda websites, such as patriarchia.ru and pravmir.ru.