Journalists and priest left in SIZO for another three months, court rules

Orthodox journalists Valeriy Stupnitsky, Andriy Ovcharenko, Volodymyr Bobechko and Father Serhiy Chertylin at a court hearing on June 4, 2024. photo: t.me/dmytrukartem

On June 7, the judge of the Solomiansky District Court of Kyiv granted the prosecution's motion and extended the pre-trial investigation in the cases of UOJ journalists and the priest of the UOC, Serhiy Chertylin, for three months. This was reported by the priest in the Telegram channel t.me/innocentprisoner, who called such a decision expected.

"The court extended the pre-trial investigation until September 12 in my case and in the case of journalists. They will continue to try to find a black cat in a dark room when it is not there," the priest wrote.

He also noted that the court did not grant the motion of UOJ journalist Andriy Ovcharenko's lawyer, who tried to obtain a medical examination in the hospital for his client, despite having all the medical documents.

"The torture continues, but this is our Cross, and we carry it further, with God on our side!" added the UOC clergyman.

As the UOJ wrote, according to Father Serhiy, all his guilt, as well as the guilt of Orthodox journalists, is that "we talked about the violation of the rights of the Church."

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