The Khust district court in Zakarpattia region found Ivan Mykulyak guilty of inciting religious enmity and imposed on him a fine of UAH 3,400.
This is reported by zaxid.net.
The verdict states that during his studies at the private Chernivtsi Orthodox Theological Institute, the defendant set up a Facebook page where he publicly labeled the OCU clerics as Satanists, accusing them of treason.
It should be noted that the owner and director of the institute is George Sobyat, archpriest with the Chernivtsi-Bukovyna Diocese of the UOC (Moscow Patriarchate).
In court, the defendant pleaded not guilty, stating that his posts could not hurt anyone’s feelings. However, witnesses noted that they were uncomfortable with accusations of sectarianism. At the same time, one of the witnesses defended Mykulyak, referring to him s a “positive citizen”.
It should be noted that the blogger shared posts by a pro-Russian politician Artem Dmytruk, who recently fled the country, and circulated the original posts of the UOC (MP)’s Pochaiv Lavra. In 2023, Mykulyak projected he would “suffer from litigation” and was raising money for legal expenses.
The guilty verdict can be challenged at the Zakarpattia Court of Appeal.
