Amsterdam: Metropolitan Arseniy's case is a full-scale crime against humanity
Robert Amsterdam. Photo: Piers Morgan’s YouTube channel
On December 1, 2025, the London-based law firm Amsterdam & Partners LLP released a statement concerning the case against Metropolitan Arseniy of Sviatohirsk, accusing the Ukrainian authorities of fabrication and systematic attacks on believers. Another court hearing in the cleric’s case is scheduled for tomorrow.
The statement notes that the UOC hierarch has been held in harsh conditions for more than a year. He is accused of disclosing the location of the Ukrainian army after he spoke out against road checkpoints that prevented UOC parishioners from reaching the churches of the Sviatohirsk Lavra. According to the human-rights defenders, the charges were brought months after the sermon, and the checkpoints mentioned in it were never subjected to enemy shelling.
“The imprisonment of this innocent monk is part of the Ukrainian government's ongoing violations of religious freedom,” the statement says. According to the attorneys, the Ukrainian authorities are aggressively pursuing a policy of promoting the state-backed Orthodox Church of Ukraine (OCU) at the expense of the UOC, resulting in the forcible transfer of parishes from one confession to another.
The human-rights advocates remind readers that in August 2024 Ukraine adopted Law No. 3894, establishing a legal basis for banning the UOC. The law was condemned by the Vatican, Pope Francis, the World Council of Churches, Human Rights Watch, and the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights.
Robert Amsterdam, founder and managing partner of Amsterdam & Partners LLP, reiterated: “The authorities' conduct in relation the UOC, of which Metropolitan Arseniy's case is emblematic, involves a full-scale crime against humanity. This crime is being committed by President Zelensky and by others involved in state-organized systematic attacks on civilians for their membership in the UOC.”
Amsterdam called on the international community to take note of “the shameful and merciless theatre of the absurd that is going on throughout the Ukrainian courts, orchestrated by the Ukrainian secret police – the SBU.”
Earlier, the UOJ quoted Amsterdam as saying that one cannot speak of democracy in Ukraine while clergy are being tortured.
Read also
Orthodox and Catholic bishops make joint visit to Mount Athos
The head of the Phanar blessed a joint pilgrimage to Mount Athos by Roman Catholic and Orthodox bishops.
UOC Kryvyi Rih Eparchy marks 30th anniversary
Metropolitan Yefrem led the anniversary Divine Liturgy in Kryvyi Rih.
Ostapenko: Everyone in UCCRO feels fine except the “FSB UOC”
The director of the Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra National Reserve called the All-Ukrainian Council of Churches “a wonderful organization.”
Khmelnytskyi Eparchy donates funds for treatment of 12-year-old girl
UOC believers raised UAH 20,000 for Anastasiia Mamchur as part of an eparchial charity campaign.
Shevchuk: We had to convince world UOC ban does not violate religious freedom
The UGCC head claims that by banning the UOC, the state is not violating religious freedom but merely protecting the Church’s faithful from Moscow propaganda.
Lavra reserve head estimates damage to Dormition Cathedral at €15 million
Maksym Ostapenko said restoring the Dormition Cathedral would take at least a couple of years and require major funding.