Dozens of priests made an open letter in defense of the defendants in Moscow Affairs

Dozens of clergymen of the Russian Orthodox Church wrote an open letter in defense of the defendants in the Moscow Affairs . The text of the letter is published on the website of the publication "Orthodoxy and the world." By the evening of September 18, it was signed by 105 people from more than 10 countries . The collection of signatures under the appeal continues.

The clergy demand that the sentences issued to the defendants in the “Moscow case” be revised. The authors of the letter hope that from other defendants who expect the court, they will remove the charges and they will be released.

The authors of the letter drew attention to the case of Konstantin Kotov , who was sentenced to four years in the colony on charges of repeated violation of the rules of the rally. The clergy called the sentence the sentence "unprecedentedly cruel punishment." They also noted that they were perplexed due to the judge’s refusal to introduce a video to the Kotov case, which proves his innocence and contradicts the testimony of the police, "who repeat each other literally."

The authors of the letter emphasized that they are categorically opposed to any manifestation of violence both from the protesters and representatives of the authorities.

Priests believe that the defendants in the Moscow Affairs made more brutal sentences than people who were tried for more serious crimes. “We believe that the punishment should be in proportion to the violation of the law, and the authorities impose additional responsibility on a person, and does not exempt from it. Otherwise, justice itself turns into a mockery and “mass mess”, ”the letter said.

Update. The representative of the Russian Orthodox Church, the deputy chairman of the department of the Church with the Society and the Media of the Moscow Patriarchate of Vakhtang Kipshidze, called the priests a “attempt to participate in human rights activities, which actually turned into a political declaration.”

Rethered by Alexander Baklanov