Human rights activist: Venice Commission will slam the law on banning UOC

Human rights defender Oleg Denisov. Photo: pravua.info

Human rights activist Oleg Denisov told the UOJ what assessment the Venice Commission might give to the draft law on banning the UOC if the speaker of the Verkhovna Rada, Ruslan Stefanchuk, still sends the draft law for examination.

According to him, the draft law No 8371 violates the basic principles of human rights and protection of religious freedom, and therefore the document will come in for criticism by the Venice Commission.

Denisov is also convinced that the bill to ban the UOC actually puts Ukraine on a par with the world's totalitarian regimes.

"There is already quite a powerful discussion on the UOC issues at the international level - both at the UN level and at the level of the pre-election parliamentary race in the United States. Thus, the law on the ban, in case it is voted for now, will inevitably cause justified criticism both on international platforms and in the course of various political processes," he added.

At the same time, the human rights activist reminded that the UOC is a long-established and internationally recognised Orthodox organisation, so there can be no legal claims to it.

We shall remind you that MPs urged Rada speaker Ruslan Stefanchuk to appeal to the Venice Commission over the ban on the Ukrainian Orthodox Church.

As earlier reported by the UOJ, the head of the Servants of the People faction said that Ukraine needed the Venice Commission to examine the draft law on banning the Ukrainian Orthodox Church in order to join the EU.

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