DESS head explains when UOC-banning law will take effect
Viktor Yelensky, the head of the State Service for Ethnopolitics and Freedom of Conscience (DESS), specified what needs to be done for the anti-church law to take effect.
At the DESS press conference titled "Freedom of Conscience in Ukraine: Its Enemies and Defenders", the DESS head Viktor Yelensky spoke about whether any religious organizations had received directives under Law No. 3894, which requires breaking ties with Russia.
He stated, "No," explaining that the Cabinet of Ministers must approve four regulatory acts for this to happen. He elaborated:
- The procedure for issuing directives.
- The procedure for granting permission to maintain relations with a banned religious organization.
- Provisions concerning the ideology of the 'Russian World', which would allow DESS to file lawsuits to terminate the activities of religious organizations that repeatedly promote this ideology.
- Criteria defining instances of promoting the 'Russian World' ideology that threaten Ukraine's statehood, culture, identity, or territorial integrity.
Yelenskyi also noted that the fourth act involves the procedure for transferring religious buildings to religious organizations.
All these acts are currently under review by the Cabinet of Ministers, and DESS will only be able to issue directives after their approval. He emphasized that the ability to file lawsuits would not arise until at least nine months after the law's adoption.
As the UOJ previously reported, "Metropolitan" Kliment (Pavlo Mykolaiovych Kush) of Simferopol and Crimea expressed support for Law No. 3894, which was criticized in a report by the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights.
