Churches Condemn Sentence On Tymoshenko

The Ukrainian Orthodox Church-Kyivan Patriarchate, Ukrainian Orthodox Church-Moscow Patriarchate, Ukrainian Autocephalous Orthodox Church disapprove of the decision of the Pechersk Court of Kyiv to sentence Ex-Premier Yulia Tymoshenko to 7 years of imprisonment.

The Ukrainian Orthodox Church-Kyivan Patriarchate, Ukrainian Orthodox Church-Moscow Patriarchate, Ukrainian Autocephalous Orthodox Church disapprove of the decision of the Pechersk Court of Kyiv to sentence Ex-Premier Yulia Tymoshenko to 7 years of imprisonment.

According to Kommersant-Ukraine, the Secretary of the Synod of UOC-KP, Bishop Yevstratii (Zoria) commented: “ as a citizen, I do not agree with the sentence and, as a minister, I believe that there is some sense even in that sentence, which we will understand later.” “As a citizen, I am disappointed by the sentence. I believe that this unwise decision of the court will harm the position of Ukraine in the international community, namely, the relations with Russia and Europe, have a negative influence on the political future of Ukraine and heat the situation inside the country,” stressed the bishop.

According to the press-secretary of the Head of UOC-MP, Protopriest Heorhii Kovalenko, “The Church does not evaluate the actions of the authorities or courts if they are not directly connected with religious activity. On the other hand, we always remember the good done to us by representatives of the previous and present regimes and pray for the people in the positions of authority and for the imprisoned ones.”

Press-Secreatry of UAOC, Protopriest Yevhen Zapletniuk noted that “the Church has always warned people against the sin and imprisonment but, on the other hand, justice should be just and not partial.” “As a citizen, I do not agree with the sentence of Tymoshenko and, in my opinion, it is a very high price of the mistakes of Yulia Volodymyrivna. I never Liked Yulia Tymoshenko but now I can see that the justice has been partial and unjust with respect to her. Such policy can lead only to the return of totalitarianism,” said the protopriest. So reported LigaBusinessInform.