Court refuses to hear Lavra monk case on 'bell-ringing over Russia' song
The Kyiv court returned to the prosecutor the indictment against Hieromonk Zakharia, who wanted to be tried for a song about "bells ringing over Russia".
The Kyiv Pecherskyy court refused to consider the case of Hieromonk of the Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra Fr. Zakharia, whom the SBU suspects of "justifying Russia's aggression against Ukraine". This is evidenced by the court ruling of 7 April 2023.
In the ruling, the judge noted that the indictment "substantially fails to meet" the requirements of the Ukrainian code of criminal procedure:
"The circumstances enumerated by the court unequivocally indicate the absence of a full (specific) procedural statement in the indictment and, consequently, its assignment for trial would be contrary to the provisions of Article 6 (3) of the European Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms".
After examining the indictment, the court was also unable to assess exactly in what way Hieromonk Zakharia "committed a crime".
The judge also stressed that it was not clear to him what the church premises were at the time of the song: a means or an instrument.
As reported, the Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra spoke about the situation with a song about Russia.
