The court refused to soften the measure of restraint for a priest accused of “fakes.” He will remain in jail

The St. Petersburg City Court refused to soften the preventive measure for Hieromonk Ioann (Dmitry Kurmoyarov), accused in the case of “fakes” about the Russian army (clause “d”, part 2 of article 207.3 of the Criminal Code). His lawyer Leonid Krikun spoke about this on his Facebook page.

The priest will remain in pre-trial detention center-1 “Kresty-2”.

The initiation of a case against Father John and his detention became known on the morning of June 8. The reason for the criminal prosecution was a video that the clergy published in March. The video said that Russian soldiers killed in Ukraine would go to hell, not heaven. “In heaven there are “blessed are the peacemakers,” “peacemakers,” do you understand what the problem is? And those who unleashed aggression will not be in heaven,” the priest said.

On June 9, the court arrested Ioann Kurmoyarov for two months, until August 6. At the same time, until the evening of June 10, the accused remained in the temporary detention center, although he should have been transferred to a pre-trial detention center. Lawyer Leonid Krikun could not contact his client.

• In 2020, the Metropolitan banned Ioann Kurmoyarov from serving after the latter criticized the main church of the Armed Forces, which then opened in the Moscow region. “This is another example of how Orthodoxy is turning into banal paganism with its temples, heavenly patrons, icons of military branches, professional temples,” Kurmoyarov wrote on his Facebook. The banwas later lifted . However, he was not allowed to teach at the Novosibirsk Theological Seminary, where the priest had previously worked, and to remain in the same diocese. After this, Kurmoyarov left the city.
• Since February 24—the first day of the “special operation” in Ukraine—residents of Russian cities have been going out to anti-war rallies every day and talking about the tragedy online. Anti-war speeches and statements become grounds for criminal prosecution. At the moment, more than 190 people have become defendants in criminal cases initiated due to protest against the war with Ukraine. Read more about this in our guide .
• Article 207.3 was included in the Criminal Code in March 2022 - in this way the government responded to anti-war speeches and statements, as well as the dissemination of information about the war that did not come from official Russian sources. For spreading “fake news” you can get up to 15 years in prison.