The European Court of Human Rights is to consider the complaint lodged by the Head of the Orthodox Church of Ukraine in Crimea, Archbishop Klyment over his detention by Russian enforcement officers on March 3, 2019. The Archbishop’s lawyer, Serhiy Zayets posted the letter received from ECHR on 24 January 2020, adding that they are also continuing the struggle to stop Russia’s attempts to evict the Diocese and the congregation from the Cathedral of St. Volodymyr and Olha in Simferopol. Zayets rightly thanked lawyers Emil Kurbedinov and Nikolai Polozov who immediately reacted after Klyment was detained on March 3, 2019. Crimean Tatar journalist and Crimean Solidarity activist, Remzi Bekirov also leapt into action, as he always did, in cases of repression, ensuring that information was streamed onto the Internet. Bekirov was arrested himself on March 27, and is now facing a 20-year sentence on totally fabricated charges.
Russia's War Against Ukraine
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Halya Coynash: Russia to answer to ECHR over detention of Archbishop
Father Kliment, the head of the Cathedral of Saint Vladimir and Saint Olga in Simferopol, leads a service on Feb. 15, 2019. The only major Ukrainian Orthodox Church in Russian-annexed Crimea is set to close following a historic religious split between Kyiv and Moscow.
