Bishop Nikita: My lawyer sues the media for defaming me

Bishop Nikita (Storozhuk). Photo: news.church.ua

The UOC hierarch, Bishop Nikita of Ivano-Frankivsk, stated that he sued the media, which published slander against him, as well as photos where he was filmed in his underwear during the SBU search in the Chernivtsi Eparchy. The bishop said this at a press conference on the persecution and harassment of the Church, which took place on 15 December 2022 at the Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra.

"My lawyer filed a lawsuit against the “Left Bank” (a resource that published photos of Bishop Nikita and subdeacon Pavel, as well as a slander about the 'sodom scandal' – Ed.)," the bishop said.

He noted that law enforcers are not commenting on the incident in any way: "I myself ask the investigators how to proceed and what to do. Everyone shrugs their shoulders. But my lawyers are resolute about the ‘Left Bank’. The lawsuit has been filed."

Archpriest Oleksandr Bakhov, the head of the Legal Department, commenting on the incident, said that an investigation should be launched into how the photos taken by law enforcers during the investigation could have ended up with the journalists.

"It is necessary to hold the persons who carried out the investigative actions responsible for who and why passed the restricted information to the journalists. Neither the photos nor the video of the searches should have fallen into the wrong hands. For this purpose, it is necessary to apply to law enforcement bodies with a demand to open an investigation because questions arise – how restricted information got into the media," Fr Oleksandr said.

As reported, Bishop Nikita spoke about the details of the search in the Chernivtsi Eparchy.

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