ECHR refuses to intervene in the situation with OCU churches in Crimea

The ECHR rejected the OCU's petition regarding churches in Crimea. Photo: www.bfmtv.com

The European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) in Strasbourg refused to take urgent measures to protect the churches of the OCU in Crimea. This is stated in the court decision, published on the website of the ECHR on September 1, 2020.

The applicants requested that interim measures be taken during the consideration of the OCU's complaint against Russia in the case of the eviction from the cathedral of Sts Vladimir and Olga in Simferopol and the demolition of the chapel in Yevpatoria.

“The Court decided to reject the requests as outside the scope of application of Rule 39 (interim measures) of the Rules of Court, since they did not involve a risk of serious and irreparable harm of a core right under the European Convention on Human Rights. The Court grants such requests only on an exceptional basis, when the applicants would otherwise face a real risk of irreversible harm,” a press release from the ECHR states.

Earlier, the UOJ wrote how Russian citizen Pavel Kushch ("Metropolitan" Kliment) and the Russian authorities have been trying to sort things out in the courts for six years, while representatives of the OCU are trying in every possible way to create an image of a "persecuted Church" on the peninsula. In August 2020, Kushch appealed to the representatives of the UN Security Council to consider the possibility for the OCU activity in Crimea without registration, which is required by the legislation of the Russian Federation.

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