A case against the Archbishop of the Russian Orthodox Church on repeated discrediting of the army has been brought to court

The persecution of 86-year-old Viktor Pivovarov is connected with the publication of an anti-war article.

On January 22, 2024, the Slavic City Court of the Krasnodar Territory registered the materials of a criminal case against the 86-year-old Archbishop of the Russian Orthodox Church (RosOC) Viktor Pivovarov, who serves in the Intercession-Tikhonovsky Church. He is accused under Part 1 of Art. 280.3 of the Criminal Code (repeated discrediting of the armed forces).

He himself announced that a criminal case had been opened against the archbishop on December 28, 2023. The reason for the persecution was Pivovarov’s article “The answer to the question that worries everyone today: what is this war?” blog on the Blogspot.com platform. The article talked about wars and violence as a manifestation of universal evil and about armed actions in Ukraine as part of this phenomenon.

In March 2023, Pivovarovwas fined 40 thousand rubles under Part 1 of Art. 20.3.3 Code of Administrative Offenses on discrediting the army due to anti-war preaching. In October, a search was carried out on the territory of the temple and equipment was seized. The assistant to the archbishop, Hieromonk Jonah (Sigida), was fined 30 thousand rubles under the same article, as well as under Art. 19.3 of the Code of Administrative Offenses on disobedience to law enforcement agencies: he was accused of refusing to present a passport.

We consider the persecution under administrative art. to be unlawful. 20.3.3 of the Code of Administrative Offenses on discrediting the use of Russian armed forces and the activities of government agencies abroad, and under Criminal Art. 280.3 of the Criminal Code on repeated discrediting in cases where the reason for prosecution is statements that are not accompanied by direct calls for violence.

Sources

• Criminal case card No. 1-75/2024 // Slavic City Court of the Krasnodar Territory. 2024. January 29.
• The case of a priest from the Krasnodar region about repeated discrediting of the army was brought to court // OVD-Info. 2024. January 29.
• A criminal case was opened against the 86-year-old Kuban archbishop for “discrediting” the army // Caucasus.Realities. 2023. December 28.