Police to investigate illegal conscription of clerics from Khust Eparchy

Clerics of the Khust Eparchy: Archpriest Ioan Rozman and Archpriest Ioan Petechel. Photo: UOJ collage

Following the illegal conscription of clerics from the Khust Eparchy of the UOC, the police have launched a criminal investigation. This was reported by Member of Parliament Artem Dmytruk on April 9th in his Telegram channel.

"I would like to remind you that not long ago, the TCC employees kidnapped the father of many children, Archpriest Ioan Petechel, and Archpriest Ioan Rozman, who is caring for his wife after she had a stroke. Both clergymen had all legal grounds not to be conscripted into the army. TCC employees, fancying themselves as a separate caste of the state, kidnapped and took the priests in an unknown direction. Later it became known that the clerics are on the territory of the Armed Forces," the MP said.

Dmytruk wrote that based on his parliamentary appeal, in which he outlined the circumstances of the case, the Khust police department under the control of the Transcarpathian Specialized Prosecutor's Office in the Defense Sphere of the Western Region has initiated a pre-trial investigation in a separate criminal case.

Earlier, the UOJ reported that employees of Transcarpathian Regional Military Recruitment, Conscription, and Social Support Centers detained two clergymen from the UOC diocese despite the legal grounds for exemption from military service. Relatives of the priest Ioan Rozman reported that he is in a military unit.

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