Patriarch Sviatoslav expresses opinions on the justice system in Ukraine

“The current state of justice is one of the worst plagues threatening our country,” Patriarch Sviatoslav (Shevchuk), head of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church, told a UNIAN correspondent in response to questions about the latest high-profile trials of Yulia Tymoshenko and Yuriy Lutsenko. "Unfortunately, in Ukraine for many years people are under investigation, and often innocent people are in prison – people who need our prayers and support,” stated the head of the UGCC. But he remembered the prisoners suffering from tuberculosis or AIDS. “Because of the imperfection of our prison system, they are not receiving quality or even any medical care, and consequently they are slowly dying in inhumane conditions.” “They deserve our compassion, our prayers, which are our prison chaplains bring them. I think that all faithful of our church should express their positions as Ukrainian citizens and support, without breaking the Commandments of God and the Constitution, for the imprisoned or even protect them,” said the Patriarch Sviatoslav. Separately, the head of the UGCC mentioned Yulia Tymoshenko’s trial. “We understand that the trial of Yulia Tymoshenko is only the tip of the iceberg. This is an opportunity to draw attention to numerous lawsuits in Ukraine, where the judicial system, which is dependent on the government and focused on indictment, destroys thousands of ordinary people,” said the primate of the Greek Catholics. According to Patriarch Sviatoslav, the judicial system clearly indicates whether the society adheres to basic human values, on which the European community is built – the community Ukraine wants to join. “One of the main values is that the law should protect human dignity, human freedom and human rights, and that judges should guard the execution of the law,” said the head of the UGCC. But he noted that Ukraine “the Soviet stereotype is still alive and the justice system is used as a means to establish one or another dominant force or ideology to excuse the guilty and condemn the innocent.” “Our faithful and I are very sad that in the twentieth year of Ukrainian independence people continue to be condemned unfairly,” concluded the patriarch.  

UGCC Information Department