Metropolitan Ionafan of Tulchyn and Bratslav did not make any fuss about the notice of suspicion he was issued with because he is confident that an impartial and full investigation will prove his innocence, the head of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church Synod's information and education department, Metropolitan Klyment, has told LB.ua.
"In case of a full and impartial investigation of the case, his (Ionafan's - ed.) innocence will be proven. He has repeatedly stated this. It should be noted that recently the same proceedings under the same article of the Criminal Code have been repeatedly opened on the basis of public statements of officials, politicians and even representatives of various denominations, which contained undisguised signs of insult and discrimination against the faithful of the UOC for their religious beliefs," Klyment said.
However, he stressed that, in his opinion, the investigation of "these cases for some reason is not so lively and has not received such publicity in the media."
"Of course, this fact in itself does not yet mean that our society segregates people by different sorts depending on their religious beliefs, but it can be a serious signal in terms of respect for fundamental human rights," he said.
In the morning, the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) notified UOC Metropolitan Ionafan of Tulchyn and Bratslav of suspicion under Article 161 Part 2 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine (violation of equality of citizens based on their race, nationality, region, religious beliefs, disability and other grounds). According to the SBU, the Metropolitan committed intentional actions aimed at inciting religious hatred and insulting the feelings of citizens in connection with their religious beliefs.