London, December 3, 2025
Photo: spzh.eu
International human rights lawyer Robert Amsterdam has described Ukraine’s treatment of the canonical Ukrainian Orthodox Church (UOC) as “a full-scale crime against humanity,” following another court hearing for imprisoned Metropolitan Arseny of Svyatogorsk.
Amsterdam, founder and Managing Partner of Amsterdam & Partners LLP, which serves as international counsel to the UOC on a pro bono basis, issued the statement on the eve of His Eminence Metropolitan Arseny’s latest hearing yesterday. The Metropolitan has been held in detention for over a year under conditions that have severely deteriorated his health.
“I wish to reiterate again that the authorities’ conduct in relation to the UOC, of which Metropolitan Arseniy’s case is emblematic, involves a full-scale crime against humanity. This crime is being prosecuted by President Zelensky and others involved in state-organised systematic attacks on civilians for their membership in the UOC,” Amsterdam stated.
Met. Arseny was initially arrested in April 2024 on charges of revealing Ukrainian army positions through a September 2023 sermon mentioning road blockages preventing parishioners from attending church. After being released from pre-trial detention in late October, Security Service officers immediately arrested him again on new charges.
The 70-year-old hierarch’s health has continued to decline during detention. Medical specialists determined in late September that he urgently requires heart surgery. During a November 28 court hearing, his blood pressure spiked to 200 over 110, requiring emergency medical assistance in the courtroom.
Amsterdam noted that Met. Arseny’s imprisonment is part of broader religious persecution involving the forced transfer of UOC churches to the state-supported Orthodox Church of Ukraine (OCU). He cited His Eminence Metropolitan Theodosy of Cherkasy as another hierarch imprisoned following violent raids.
In August 2024, the Ukrainian government adopted Law 3894 establishing a legal framework to ban the UOC. The law has been condemned by the World Council of Churches, Human Rights Watch, the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, and religious leaders including Pope Francis.
Amsterdam concluded: “May the eyes and ears of all members of the Orthodox faith and other faiths be directed to this shameful and merciless farce of the absurd that is going on throughout the Ukrainian courts, orchestrated by the Ukrainian secret police – the SBU.”
Amsterdam & Partners LLP is an international law firm based in London and Washington, DC, specializing in political advocacy and human rights.
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