Mass media: Yurash interrogated in the proceedings on his abuse of power

Former Head of the Department of the Ministry of Culture for Religious Affairs Andrei Yurash. Photo: ukrinform.ua

On December 24, 2019, the police questioned the former head of the Department of the Ministry of Culture of Ukraine for Religious Affairs, Andrei Yurash, in the case of abuse of office and participation in fabricating a criminal case against the cleric of the UOC, Archpriest Viktor Zemlianoy. This was reported by the online publication "Strana".

The publication recalled that the criminal case against Yurash was opened in April 2019, when it became known that the official had signed the “Religious Opinion” and thereby actually helped fabricate the case against Archpriest Viktor Zemlianoy.

The “Religious Opinion” by Yurash formed the basis for the criminal prosecution of the clergyman for his statements and articles.

“The content of peer-reviewed publications not only potentially hurts the feelings of believers of the UOC-KP and UAOC but also incites and provokes a part of the Orthodox community of Ukraine and, in this regard, can be viewed as a deliberate setting of the UOC-believers against other Orthodox faiths acting on legitimate and equal rights on their grounds,” said the former head of the Department of the Ministry of Culture for Religious Affairs in this document.

According to the source of the Internet publication “Strana” in the police, there is not a single normative act that would give the Ministry of Culture of Ukraine, its divisions or officials the right to conduct expert research on religious studies in criminal proceedings. This means that Yurash abused his official position and made a Religious Opinion bypassing the legislation of Ukraine.

The Strana’s interlocutor also said that the official is trying to find ways to “hush up the case”, since the investigation may prevent him from heading the State Service of Ukraine on Ethnic Policy and Freedom of Conscience, which was created in June 2019. 
The publication also reminded that earlier Andrei Yurash made a lot of efforts to create the OCU.

Previously, Archpriest Viktor Zemlianoy said that in the case against him, the SBU was working off an order for the new church structure. He spoke about the charges against him, the falsifications of SBU experts and ex-official of the Ministry of Culture Andrei Yurash in his case.

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