Court rejects motion to recuse judge in Metropolitan Arseniy case
The hearing proceeded with procedural violations; the hierarch was not given the floor, and some defense attorneys were absent for valid reasons.
On September 18, 2025, the Sloviansk City District Court rejected a motion by the attorneys of Metropolitan Arseniy of Sviatohirsk to recuse the presiding judge, T. A. Khaustova, the Sviatohirsk Lavra website reports.
Procedural violations occurred during the hearing. Judge Soloviova declared the session open even though three of the five defense attorneys were unable to attend for valid reasons. Metropolitan Arseniy was not given an opportunity to speak.
Because the attorney who submitted the motion was absent, the case file lacked documents needed to fully substantiate the recusal request. Some materials – video recording of the recusal request, Judge Khaustova’s statement, and the court session log – were added to the case directly during the hearing.
The defense filed a motion to postpone the hearing to review the materials and prepare properly. The judge retired to the deliberation room, but upon return announced a decision to deny the recusal.
Metropolitan Arseniy has been held in the Dnipro pretrial detention center since April 25, 2024. The date and time of the next hearing in his case will be announced separately.
Earlier, the UOJ reported that UN human rights rapporteurs, in a letter to the Ukrainian authorities, pointed to the unlawfulness of holding Metropolitan Arseniy in a pretrial detention facility.
