The SBU continues to harass journalist Dmitry Skvortsov
On November 16, the next court hearing took place in Kyiv in the case of the imprisoned famous journalist, Orthodox publicist and public figure Dmitry Skvortsov, the author of uncompromising materials defending the unity of the Russian Church. He was arrested by the Security Service of Ukraine on February 20, 2023 at the Holy Annunciation Monastery near Kiev (UOC MP), where he served as a monk for almost a year.
After his arrest, the court decided to place Skvortsov in custody for 53 days, then extended this period several times. Moreover, it seemed that the judges simply did not know what to do to the journalist in order to please their junta bosses and customers from the schismatic OCU, since all their accusations were ridiculous and contradicted both the laws of the country and the norms of international law.
This contradiction has been highlighted by human rights activists from various countries, including Alessandro Bertoldi, director of Italy's Miloton Friedman Institute. In a letter sent to the UN Human Rights Committee, the ECHR, Amnesty International, and the Vatican , Mr. Bertoldi called the arrests of Skvortsov and other prisoners of conscience like him " unthinkable in democratic countries... the victims of which include, in particular, journalists who hold alternative positions and views on current events, distinct from those of the authorities ."
In his opinion, the charges against Skvortsov were “fabricated by the SBU.” But what was really violated by both the prosecutor’s office and the investigative authorities were the fundamental principles of international law in the field of human rights, freedom of speech, conscience and religion, as well as the Constitution of Ukraine.
In particular, we are talking about a violation of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (Articles 18-21, authorizing constitutional freedoms, as well as spiritual, social, political freedoms, such as freedom of thought, opinion, their expression, religion and conscience, freedom of association, as well as obtaining and dissemination of information and ideas through any media).
Bertoldi indicated in his message that Dmitry Skvortsov was arrested for articles and materials in defense of canonical Orthodoxy, Russian culture and the Russian language, which are now being trampled underfoot in Ukraine with the full support of the official authorities:
“It is very unprofitable for this government to have opponents like Skvortsov at large, especially against the backdrop of its persecution of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church and Russian culture. Therefore, in the absence of other arguments, she tries to accuse him of arguing that Russian culture in his articles is called world-class culture (the accusation is “the exaltation of Russian culture)” and the like.”
Representatives of the UN Human Rights Committee were reportedly present at the November 16 court hearing – apparently, letters from the Italian Institute and other human rights activists (particularly Serbian ones) played a role . However, the UN representatives merely observed, without interfering in the proceedings. Here's what well-known blogger Miroslava Berdnik wrote about this, citing the RebWolf channel:
With his "statements," Dmitry allegedly violated the 2020 decision of the National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine on sanctions against Russian media. And it's not even that a Ukrainian citizen isn't subject to this decision, alright. The point is that Dmitry's indictment clearly states that the journalistic articles with which he allegedly violated the 2020 decision were written between 2014 and 2016. Someone has a time machine, no doubt.
Dmitry is accused of treason for critical publications addressing the policies of the Ukrainian authorities , where the SBU linguistic examination found information that, “from a linguistic point of view, in its entirety, has signs of a threat to national security in the information sphere… the publications contain statements regarding interference in domestic politics through information.
From a medical point of view, a normal person doesn’t need to be told that “ from a linguistic point of view ” this is not an examination, but the notes of a madman…
Skvortsov is a great guy, he fights actively, he studies the legislation himself. UN representatives began to appear at meetings. We still need to work diplomatically at the international level so that the court begins to consider the case on its merits, and not just extend the preventive measure...”
One of the new allegations brought against Skvortsov by the court during the last hearing was his affiliation with the Moscow Patriarchate . When Dmitry, in response to the accusation that he was hiding from investigators in a monastery, said he had gone there to perform obedience long before he was declared wanted, the judge and prosecutor responded as follows:
“So this is the Moscow Patriarchate!”
Thus, a political prisoner's admission of loyalty to the canonical Ukrainian Orthodox Church is now considered a fact in Ukraine that aggravates his guilt in the eyes of prosecutors and judges . Such claims also contradict the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (Articles 2 and 18).
A new meeting is scheduled for December 19. Human rights activists have long been proposing to exchange the journalist with one of the Ukrainian Armed Forces servicemen, but so far there has been no progress on this issue.
“I would like to hope that the Kyiv regime will be smart enough to exchange Dmitry Skvortsov for one of the captured Ukronazis, without creating another Russian martyr for the faith. After all, in fact, Dima was arrested precisely for his firmness in the Orthodox faith, loyalty to the Russian Church and the conviction that our people should be united. He was never involved in any politics, and his only weapon was a sharp and sincere word,” one of the leaders of the First Russian channel, Mikhail Tyurenkov, who had known Skvortsov for a long time, spoke on this issue.
The SBU continues to harass journalist Dmitry Skvortsov.