Source: www.forum18.org
Date: October 11, 2022
Two Russian Orthodox priests are on criminal trial for opposing Russia's
war in Ukraine from a religious perspective and could face imprisonment or
massive fines. Fr Nikandr Pinchuk's first full trial hearing in Sverdlovsk
Region is due on 17 October. Fr Ioann Kurmoyarov's trial in St Petersburg
is due to resume on 14 November. He has been in pre-trial detention since
early June. Investigative Committee officials in St Petersburg and
Yekaterinburg refused to explain why they brought prosecutions for opposing
the war on religious grounds.
RUSSIA: Two priests on trial for opposing Russia's war in Ukraine
https://www.forum18.org/archiv
By Victoria Arnold, Forum 18
Two Russian Orthodox priests are on trial on different criminal charges for
their opposition to Russia's war in Ukraine. If convicted, they could be
imprisoned or have to pay massive fines. They are the first members of the
clergy known to be facing criminal prosecution for protesting against the
war from a religious perspective, although others have been charged with
lesser administrative offences.
Fr Ioann Kurmoyarov is next due to appear at Kalinin District Court in St
Petersburg on 14 November (see below).
Fr Nikandr Pinchuk's first full hearing is due to take place at Verkhoturye
District Court (Sverdlovsk Region) on 17 October (see below).
Both men are hieromonks (monks who are also priests) and members of a
branch of the Russian Orthodox Church Outside Russia (ROCOR) which did not
join the Moscow Patriarchate with other parts of ROCOR in 2007.
The Investigative Committee in St Petersburg has charged Fr Ioann under the
new Criminal Code Article 207.3 ("Public dissemination, under the guise of
credible statements, of knowingly false information about the use of the
Armed Forces of the Russian Federation in order to protect the interests of
the Russian Federation and its citizens [and] maintain international peace
and security") (see below).
Fr Ioann is being prosecuted for videos he posted on his YouTube channel in
which he criticises the Moscow Patriarchate's support for the war, suggests
the "aggressors" will not go to heaven, and argues that "Every condemnation
of this aggression, this war on Ukraine, is a spiritual matter. All
Christians should do it on principle" (see below).
Fr Ioann has been in detention in St Petersburg's Kresty-2 Prison since
early June and will remain there throughout his trial (see below).
St Petersburg Investigative Committee said all information was on its
website, not answering Forum 18's questions as to what material forms the
basis for the case against Fr Ioann, why the expression of religious views
on war in general and in Ukraine is considered "false information" about
the Russian armed forces, and why it was considered necessary to put him in
detention. St Petersburg City Prosecutor's Office did not answer Forum 18's
questions (see below).
Sverdlovsk Region Investigative Committee has charged Fr Nikandr under the
new Criminal Code Article 280.3 ("Public actions aimed at discrediting the
use of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation in order to protect the
interests of the Russian Federation and its citizens, [and] maintain
international peace and security") for having written on his VKontakte page
about the "violation of the Holy Commandments by those who should preach
those commandments" and "demons and antichrists among the Russian
authorities", as he told the Baza Telegram channel on 30 June.
Investigators have not placed him under any restrictions (see below).
Sverdlovsk Region Investigative Committee refused to answer Forum 18's
question on why the expression of religious views on the war is considered
"discreditation" of the Russian Armed Forces (see below).
Sverdlovsk Regional Prosecutor's Office did not reply to Forum 18's
question asking what sentence prosecutors are seeking for Fr Nikandr (see
below).
Orthodox opposition to war
Many of the religious believers who have opposed the war have been Russian
Orthodox (https://www.forum18.org/archi
Moscow Patriarchate and other branches.
In March, a court fined Fr Ioann Burdin of the Moscow Patriarchate's
Kostroma Diocese one month's average local wages for online remarks and a
Sunday sermon in church condemning Russia's invasion of Ukraine and
stressing the importance of the commandment, "Thou shalt not kill".
In April, a court fined Deacon Sergey Shcherbyuk nearly one month's average
local wages for allegedly "discrediting the Russian armed forces" in
conversations with parishioners and colleagues.
Nearly 300 Russian Orthodox priests have signed an open letter since March
2022 calling for "reconciliation and an immediate ceasefire" in Ukraine
(https://docs.google.com/forms
The letter criticised the suppression of protests against the war, and
stated that "we believe that the people of Ukraine should make their choice
on their own, not at gunpoint, without pressure from West or East".
Several priests who opposed the war – including some who signed the
letter - have asked the Moscow Patriarchate to be made supernumerary
(https://www.forum18.org/archi
New offences: "False information" and "discreditation"
New penalties for criticising Russia's war in Ukraine came into force as
soon as President Vladimir Putin signed them into law on 4 March
(https://www.forum18.org/archi
have since faced prosecution under one or another of them for a vast range
of actions and statements expressing opposition to the invasion.
Criminal Code Article 207.3, Part 1 punishes "Public dissemination, under
the guise of credible statements, of knowingly false information about the
use of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation in order to protect the
interests of the Russian Federation and its citizens [and] maintain
international peace and security, as well as about the exercise by state
bodies of the Russian Federation of their powers outside the territory of
the Russian Federation for those purposes". It carries the following
possible punishments:
– a fine of 700,000 to 1.5 million Roubles;
– or up to one year's correctional work;
– or up to three years' assigned work;
– or up to three years' imprisonment.
Criminal Code Article 207.3, Part 2 (under which Fr Ioann Kurmoyarov has
been charged) punishes the same actions "a) by a person using their
official position; b) by a group of persons; v) with the artificial
creation of evidence for accusations; g) for selfish motives; or d) for
reasons of political, ideological, racial, national or religious hatred or
enmity, or for reasons of hatred or enmity against any social group", and
carries the following possible punishments:
- a fine of 3 million to 5 million Roubles;
- or up to five years' assigned work "with deprivation of the right to hold
certain positions or engage in certain activities for up to five years";
- or five to 10 years' imprisonment "with deprivation of the right to hold
certain positions or engage in certain activities for up to five years".
According to the OVD-Info human rights news agency, 103 people had been
charged under this Article
(https://data.ovdinfo.org/summ
24 September. They include Fr Ioann and the first person known to face
charges under Criminal Code Article 207.3 for criticising the war from a
religious perspective – Nina Belyayeva, a Baptist and Communist municipal
deputy from Voronezh (https://www.forum18.org/archi
who now lives outside Russia.
The 4 March amendments also introduced Administrative Code Article 20.3.3
("Public actions aimed at discrediting the use of the Armed Forces of the
Russian Federation in order to protect the interests of the Russian
Federation and its citizens, [and] maintain international peace and
security, including public calls to prevent the use of the Armed Forces of
the Russian Federation for these purposes, or equally, aimed at
discrediting the exercise by state bodies of the Russian Federation of
their powers outside the territory of the Russian Federation for these
purposes, if these actions do not contain signs of a criminal offence").
According to OVD-Info, 4,033 people had been prosecuted under
Administrative Code Article 20.3.3 as of 24 September. This figure includes
a small number whose protests were religiously inspired
(https://www.forum18.org/archi
imagery (see forthcoming F18News article).
A repeated offence under Administrative Code Article 20.3.3 within one year
can lead to criminal prosecution under the new corresponding Criminal Code
Article 280.3 ("Public actions aimed at discrediting the use of the Armed
Forces of the Russian Federation in order to protect the interests of the
Russian Federation and its citizens, [and] maintain international peace and
security, including public calls to prevent the use of the Armed Forces of
the Russian Federation for these purposes, or equally, aimed at
discrediting the exercise by state bodies of the Russian Federation of
their powers outside the territory of the Russian Federation for these
purposes").
Criminal Code Article 280.3, Part 1 (under which Fr Nikandr has been
charged) carries the following punishments:
- a fine of 100,000 to 300,000 Roubles;
- or up to three years' assigned work;
- or four to six months' detention in an "arrest house" (arestny dom);
- or up to three years' imprisonment plus deprivation of the right to hold
particular positions or engage in particular activities for the same
period.
Criminal Code Article 280.3, Part 2 punishes the same actions, "resulting
in death by negligence and/or causing harm to the health of citizens, [or]
property, [or causing] mass violations of public order and/or public
safety, or interfering with or stopping the functioning of life support,
transport or social infrastructure, credit organisations, energy
facilities, industry or communications".
The punishments are:
- a fine of 300,000 to 1 million Roubles;
- or up to five years' imprisonment plus deprivation of the right to hold
particular positions or engage in particular activities for the same
period.
According to OVD-Info, 17 people had been charged under Article 280.3 as of
24 September. Police and other investigative agencies also use other
Criminal Code Articles against people protesting against the war – such
as Article 213 ("Hooliganism"), Article 214, ("Vandalism"), and Article 318
("Violence against the authorities") – but are not yet known to have done
so to punish anyone protesting from a religious perspective.
St Petersburg: Trial underway
On 10 October at St Petersburg's Kalinin District Court, in a hearing
adjourned from 20 September, prosecutors accused Fr Ioann of 63 separate
incidents of disseminating "false information" about the Russian armed
forces. They are basing their case on "several videos" from his YouTube
channel, as well as social media posts with "calls for anti-war protests",
the RusNews Telegram channel reported on 10 October. The next court hearing
is due on 14 November.
Fr Ioann (born Dmitry Valeryevich Kurmoyarov, 8 January 1968) is the first
member of the clergy to face criminal prosecution for expressing explicitly
religious opposition to Russia's invasion of Ukraine (he was defrocked by
the Moscow Patriarchate in April, but remains a member of a branch of
ROCOR). If convicted, he could be imprisoned for up to 10 years or be fined
up to 5 million Roubles.
The court website indicates that Fr Ioann has been charged under Criminal
Code Article 207.3, Part 2, Paragraphs G and D. These punish the public
dissemination of "false information" about the Russian Armed Forces "for
selfish motives" and "for reasons of political, ideological, racial,
national or religious hatred or enmity, or for reasons of hatred or enmity
towards any social group".
It is not clear exactly why investigators and prosecutors decided on these
specific charges or which material from the "Orthodox Virtual Parish"
YouTube channel forms the basis of the prosecution. Forum 18 put these
questions to St Petersburg Investigative Committee (via its website) and St
Petersburg City Prosecutor's Office on 5 October. Forum 18 also asked why
the expression of religious views on war in general and in Ukraine is
considered "false information" about the Russian armed forces, and why it
was considered necessary to put Fr Ioann in detention.
The Investigative Committee responded on 7 October, not answering Forum
18's questions, but stating that all information that it was possible for
it to share was posted on its website. Forum 18 received no reply from the
Prosecutor's Office by the end of the working day in St Petersburg of 11
October.
RusNews also noted on 10 October that prosecutors have also accused Fr
Ioann of recommending "Vakidzasi", an episode of the satirical Russian
cartoon Masyanya which was strongly critical of Russia's invasion of
Ukraine and suggested that President Putin should kill himself.
At a custody hearing on 12 September, Kalinin District Court extended Fr
Ioann's detention in St Petersburg's Kresty-2 prison – where he has been
held since early June (https://www.forum18.org/archi
– to 28 February 2023, the Free Ioann Kurmoyarov Telegram channel
reported the same day.
In court, Fr Ioann requested more lenient restrictive measures because he
has to take care of his mother, and stated that he would not seek to flee,
the channel added. Nevertheless, prosecutors cited the existence of
relatives in the UK and Poland (which Fr Ioann denies) and the possibility
that he would flee to Ukraine as grounds for his continued detention (Fr
Ioann denies that he would do this because of legal difficulties there).
At an earlier custody hearing on 29 August, Fr Ioann said that he had
pleaded guilty. "The investigation is over. I have admitted my guilt. I am
not going to continue this activity [apparently his comments on the war],
because it will make my situation worse", the zaks.ru news website reported
him as saying.
His lawyer, Luiza Magomedova, intends to concentrate on presenting
extenuating circumstances, the RusNews Telegram channel reported on 10
October. It noted that she stated in court that Fr Ioann had been
"persecuted by the SBU [Ukrainian security service] and Ukrainian
nationalists, [and] was also called an agent of the Kremlin" when he lived
in Ukraine.
This is a reference to Fr Ioann's prosecution in 2017 for posting on
Facebook an image of the orange and black St George's ribbon (which is
banned in Ukraine); investigators ran out of time and dropped the case, but
Fr Ioann moved to Russia in 2018. He has been critical of the Orthodox
Church of Ukraine (recognised as autocephalous by the Ecumenical Patriarch
of Constantinople in 2019) as well as of the Moscow Patriarchate.
"Those who have unleashed aggression will not be in heaven"
Fr Ioann Kurmoyarov, who was stripped of his clerical status in the Moscow
Patriarchate in April 2022, set up his YouTube channel – the "Orthodox
Virtual Parish" – in June 2020 in response to his suspension from
Novosibirsk Diocese after he criticised the Cathedral of the Armed Forces
(https://www.forum18.org/archi
completed that summer near Moscow).
Before Russia's invasion of Ukraine, he posted numerous videos which
criticised the Moscow Patriarchate and the Russian government, alongside
others on more general religious themes. After the war began, the channel
became "purely an anti-war project" as Fr Ioann put it in a video entitled
"On the spiritual essence of what is happening in Ukraine" (5 April), which
remains pinned at the top of the channel's homepage.
Friends and former colleagues of Fr Ioann believe that it is a particular
video entitled "Who will be in heaven, and who in hell?", posted on 12
March, which forms the basis of the prosecution, Radio Free Europe's Sibir
Realii reported on 12 June.
Early in this video, Fr Ioann states: "'Blessed are the peacemakers' —
'the peacemakers', do you understand the problem? And those who have
unleashed aggression will not be in heaven". He later addresses those who
believe Russia's attacking Ukraine is justified: "You have yourselves
chosen this hell.. For the whole world, you are aggressors who are
attacking and destroying civilians of a neighbouring nation, which did not
expect it, which does not want you, which should determine its own fate."
Many of the channel's other posts express similar views. In a video posted
on 24 March, entitled "Is all power from God? Is Putin's power from God?",
Fr Ioann says: "The most painful thing is that our army, the Russian army,
is committing crimes. That's the trouble – that my beloved country is
behaving absolutely not in a Christian, not in a human way, [but] in fact
is doing the same thing that Nazi Germany did in the 1930s and 1940s."
In the pinned video of 5 April, Fr Ioann comments: "In the Russian Orthodox
Church it seems to me that a demonic spirituality dominates, because the
majority of Russian Orthodox priests and bishops support this war. Of
course I'm shocked by this. On the one hand I'm glad I left [the Church]
right on the eve of war .. but I don't understand how they can be in this
state when in principle they should be professing the Gospel of Christ.
There it says 'Blessed are the peacemakers', 'Those who live by the sword
shall perish by the sword'."
Sverdlovsk Region: Trial imminent
Fr Nikandr (Yevgeny) Igoryevich Pinchuk is due to make his first appearance
at Verkhoturye District Court on 17 October on charges of repeatedly
"discrediting" the Russian armed forces (Criminal Code Article 280. 3, Part
1). He is the first person known to be undergoing prosecution for this
alleged offence (https://www.forum18.org/archi
criticising the war in Ukraine on religious grounds.
Prosecutors submitted the case to court on 6 September. Fr Nikandr has not
been placed under any restrictive measures.
If convicted, Fr Nikandr could be fined up to 300,000 Roubles or imprisoned
for up to three years. Under the terms of Article 280.3, any prison
sentence would be followed by a ban on engaging in particular activities
(and holding particular positions, though this applies only to state and
local government roles), also for as long as three years.
Fr Nikandr was first found guilty of "discrediting" the armed forces on 14
March, when Verkhoturye District Court fined him 35,000 Roubles
(https://www.forum18.org/archi
Code Article 20.3.3 for comments he had made in a local VKontakte group.
According to the 14 March court decision, seen by Forum 18, Fr Nikandr had
pointed out that "the actions of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation
on the territory of Ukraine are directed against Ukraine's independence,
that the Russian Federation has carried out an attack on Ukraine, is
shelling cities, purposefully destroying Orthodox churches, etc".
Sverdlovsk Region Investigative Committee opened a criminal case against Fr
Nikandr (https://www.forum18.org/archi
Criminal Code Article 280.3 on 29 June, according to documents seen by
Forum 18. This is based on "notes and comments on my news feed, against the
arch-heretic Kirill, [and] for photographs from the time of the Great
Patriotic War [Second World War]", he explained to Forum 18 on 30 June.
Russia's invasion of Ukraine is "a mortal sin", he added.
The Investigative Committee searched Fr Nikandr's home on 1 July and took
him in for questioning. There he refused to confess, citing Article 51 of
the Constitution (which states that nobody can be obliged to testify
against themselves).
"I want to clarify that they are trying to repress me precisely because of
my rejection of the 'special operation', which they classify as
'discrediting the Russian Armed Forces'", Fr Nikandr commented to Forum 18
on 4 July (https://www.forum18.org/archi
have committed no crime and do not admit any guilt. I am a priest and have
the right to denounce evil, regardless of who is involved and the political
situation."
Forum 18 wrote to Sverdlovsk Region Investigative Committee on 5 October to
ask why the expression of religious views on the war is considered
"discreditation" of the Russian Armed Forces. Its press service responded
the same day, refusing to comment on the case.
Forum 18 put the same question to Sverdlovsk Regional Prosecutor's Office
on 5 October, also asking what sentence prosecutors are seeking for Fr
Nikandr. Forum 18 received no reply by the end of the working day in
Yekaterinburg of 11 October. (END)
Full reports on freedom of thought, conscience and belief in Russia
(https://www.forum18.org/archi
For more background see Forum 18's survey of the general state of freedom
of religion and belief in Russia
(https://www.forum18.org/archi
18's survey of the dramatic decline in this freedom related to Russia's
Extremism Law (https://www.forum18.org/archi
A personal commentary by the Director of the SOVA Center for Information
and Analysis (https://www.sova-center.ru), Alexander Verkhovsky, about the
systemic problems of Russian "anti-extremism" laws
(https://www.forum18.org/archi
Forum 18's compilation of Organisation for Security and Co-operation in
Europe (OSCE) freedom of religion or belief commitments
(https://www.forum18.org/archi
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