Amsterdam: Yelensky is sowing hatred and will be held accountable
Robert Amsterdam has accused the head of the State Service for Ethnopolitics of “sowing hatred” and undermining religious freedom.
Robert Amsterdam, the international legal counsel for the Ukrainian Orthodox Church, issued a sharp statement directed at Viktor Yelensky, head of Ukraine’s State Service for Ethnopolitics and Freedom of Conscience [DESS].
In his social media post, Amsterdam accused Yelensky of “overseeing state's assault on the Ukrainian Orthodox Church (UOC)” and having “a long record of undermining faith.” The lawyer also drew attention to Yelensky’s past – "from minimising antisemitism in the 1980s to attacking the UOC today.”
“He is sowing HATRED. If he doesn't stop now, he will be held accountable,” Amsterdam declared, using all caps to highlight his warning.
The statement by the international lawyer comes amid ongoing measures in Ukraine targeting the Ukrainian Orthodox Church. The State Service for Ethnopolitics, headed by Yelensky, is actively involved in implementing the law banning “religious organizations affiliated with the aggressor,” a law that is effectively directed against the UOC.
It should be recalled that Yelensky previously referred to all those who criticized the law banning the UOC as “useful idiots.”
