Trial of Ukrainian Greek Catholic Priest for Participation in Automaidan Postponed until February
A court hearing in the case against a professor at the Ukrainian Catholic University, Fr. Mykhailo Dymyd, was held today at 10 a.m. in Lviv’s Frankivsk district court. He is accused of failing to stop at the request of a police officer on December 29, 2013, at 12:30 p.m. in the village Novi Petrivky (Kyiv region), when the Automaidan convoy of vehicles drove to Mezhyhirya, although at this time he was near EuroMaidan in Kyiv.
According to preliminary information, the trial was to take place January 31, 2014. However, yesterday the decision changed and the court was scheduled for today, January 23. This was announced just last night, and Fr. Mykhailo’s lawyer by virtue of his professional duties in other cases could not take part in today's hearing. At the request of Fr. Mykhailo Dymyd, the court hearing was postponed to February 3.
A couple hundred Lviv residents, including clergy, youth, and faculty at UCU, came to the court to support Fr. Mykhailo. Fr. Mykhailo spoke to the people outside the court and said that freedom is not gained easily and everyone must fight for it. Priests near the court held a memorial prayer for the dead EuroMaidan activists.
A day of mourning for the dead protesters was announced in Lviv today. Among them is a resident of Lviv Yuriy Verbytsky, who after being kidnapped from a hospital in Kyiv was found dead in a forest.
