Court extends Moscow Church Metropolitan Pavlo's detention for two months
Kyiv's Pechersk district court has extended the pre-trial detention of Metropolitan Pavlo until Mar. 23, the Hromadske news outlet reported on Jan. 23, citing Mykyta Chekman, lawyer for the former abbot of the Pechersk Lavra.
The court had previously ordered Pavlo to appear in court, not to leave his place of residence, wear an electronic bracelet, and refrain from communicating with witnesses and victims. He was, however, allowed to see a doctor.
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Ukraine’s SBU security service notified Pavlo, Metropolitan of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church, Moscow Patriarchate (UOC-MP), on April 1 that he was suspected of incitement to religious hatred and justification and denial of Russia's armed aggression against Ukraine. His house was searched.
On the same day, he was fitted with an electronic bracelet at Kyiv’s Shevchenkivskyi District Court after being put under round-the-clock house arrest. Metropolitan Pavlo called the case "political” and claimed that he was medically unfit to wear an electronic bracelet.
Read also: Moscow church Metropolitan Pavlo appears in court after 4-month break, but hearing postponed again
He was charged after the UOC-MP failed to vacate the Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra, despite the termination of its lease agreement on March 29.
On July 13, the SBU informed Pavel of new charges based on an interview during which, according to the investigation, he denied the existence of Ukraine as a sovereign state and falsely called Russia's war against Ukraine a "civil conflict."
The court changed his detention to arrest on July 14.
On Aug. 7, he was released on bail of more than $900,000 (UAH 33.3 million), which was said to have been raised by "parishioners."
On Aug. 13, the court extended the period of bail.
Metropolitan Pavlo repeatedly failed to attend court hearings. On Aug. 14, his lawyer reported his hospitalization at a Kyiv medical facility with an acute myocardial infarction.
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Read the original article on The New Voice of Ukraine
