Bishop Nikita details SBU searches

St. Nicholas Сhurch in Chernivtsi, next to which is the eparchial office. Photo: urpravda.com

Bishop Nikita (Storozhuk) of Ivano-Frankivsk (UOC) once again spoke about the SBU searches that took place in the Chernivtsi-Bukovina Eparchy.

The bishop said this at a press conference of the UOC, which takes place at the Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra.

The bishop said that the UOC Synod’s decision to consecrate him as Bishop of Ivano-Frankivsk came as a surprise to him – "I did not want to go anywhere".

At the same time, says the Bishop, the searches by the SBU were expected: "We were well aware that sooner or later the law enforcers would come to us".

According to Bishop Nikita, everyone who has visited the Chernivtsi-Bukovyna Eparchy knows that there are always many people on its territory and premises, including at night.

"The search, if our video cameras are to be believed, began around seven in the morning. I heard a strange sound – as if something heavy had fallen. I ran out to see what happened but didn't have time because I heard someone smashing the glass with a buttstock," the bishop reported.

He said he was not shocked because he immediately realised what it all meant. "But at the same time, we didn't know what to do and started joking that it was some kind of blockbuster and whether any of us were in that role."

"We were forced to hold our hands above our heads, and then it started... I heard the SBU representatives taking pictures on their phones. When I asked who gave you the right to take photos of me, I was told that no one was taking photos," the bishop stressed.

Similarly, said Bishop Nikita, until the end of the investigation, which lasted 12 hours, none of the SBU officers acknowledged the fact that the front door of the eparchial office had been broken.

Thirty minutes after the search began, Bishop Nikita heard someone from the SBU demanding the keys to the office from Metropolitan Meletiy. "Vladyka was forced to give the keys because there were weapons there (with the SBU officers – Ed.) and who knows how this would have ended."

The hierarch said that he had a video showing the SBU representatives "arbitrarily entering the chancellery premises".

"All this went on long enough. However, the videos that have survived clearly show that there was no laptop with child pornography, at least from 7 to 7:30 in the morning. At 7:30 a.m. one of the SBU officers pulls down the cord of the street video camera and the cameras stop at that point," says Vladyka.

"Obviously, that laptop got on the desk of one of our employees between 8 a.m. and 11 a.m.," believes the bishop, who also pointed out that there were many violations by SBU representatives during the searches in the eparchy.

"For an hour, Metropolitan Meletiy was not allowed a lawyer, so his floor was inspected without a lawyer. The witnesses were 10 or 15 minutes late, and we had people walking around the floors, and we don't know what was missing or what we had there planted.

The SBU officers did not find anything special during the search. "Some books, a prayer for Russia... It is unknown where that book was taken from; and for some reason, some phrases there were underlined with a red ballpoint pen".

"There are very, very many questions in general," resumed the vicar.

As earlier reported, the UOC is holding a press conference on persecution and harassment of the Church.

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