Russia: Two priests on trial for opposing the war in Ukraine

Country: Russia

Date of incident: October 10, 2022


Two Russian Orthodox hieromonks (monks who are also priests in the Eastern Orthodox Church and Eastern Catholicism) had criminal cases opened against them for opposing the Russian invasion of Ukraine on religious grounds. Forum 18 is following the cases and reports that Fr Nikandr Pinchuk's first full trial hearing in Sverdlovsk Oblast is due on 17 October, while Fr Ioann Kurmoyarov, who is in pre-trial detention since early June, has his trial on 14 November in St Petersburg.

Two Russian Orthodox hieromonks (monks who are also priests in the Eastern Orthodox Church and Eastern Catholicism) had criminal cases opened against them for opposing the Russian invasion of Ukraine on religious grounds. They are the first known members of the clergy to be prosecuted for protesting the war from a religious perspective, although other members have been charged with minor administrative offences. If found guilty, they could face jail time or very large fines. 

The articles on which the accusations against the priests are based are analyzed after the cases, alongside a general notion of the legislation that the Russian government is using to suppress any internal opposition to the war.

Fr Ioann Kurmoyarov’s case (St Petersburg)

Fr Ioann Kurmoyarov is accused under Section 2 of Article 207.3 CCRF(*) of "fakes about the army." He was charged with breaching paragraphs "d)" ("for selfish reasons) and "e)" ("motivated by political, ideological, racial, national or religious hatred or enmity"...). His case was opened in June after a series of videos he published on his YouTube channel "Православный Виртуальный Приход" (Orthodox Virtual Parish) where he openly criticized the Russian government’s decision to wage a war in Ukraine on several videos and asked for peace and reconciliation. Particularly a video called "Who will be in hell and who in heaven?", was what let the Russian authorities initiate the procedure against him, the Russian human rights media project ОВД-Инфо (OVD-Info) reports, quoting the official Telegram channel of the St Petersburg Police. In the video, he states that "those who unleashed aggression, they will not be in paradise." Fr Ioann is in custody since June 9. 
The last hearing was on 10 October at St Petersburg's Kalinin District Court, where Fr Ioann was charged with 63 different incidents of "false information" about the Russian armed forces. This was reported by Raskolam.net. Earlier in August, when consulted by the local Telegram channel MR-7, the hieromonk stated that his speeches had nothing to do with politics but carried only religious preaching. "They are forcibly making a politician out of me," he said. The next hearing will take place on 14 November. If convicted, he could be imprisoned for up to 10 years or be fined up to 5 million rubles.

Fr Nikandr Pinchuk’s case (Sverdlovsk Oblast)

On 6 September, prosecutors opened a criminal case under the article Section 1 of Article 280.3 CCRF on "repeated discrediting of the Russian armed forces" against Fr Nikandr Pinchuk. This accusation is based on a series of posts on VKontakte (Russian social media), where he called the actions of the Russian military "aggressive" and rejected the "special military operation." Prior to that, the hieromonk had already been fined 35,000 rubles under Article 20.3.3 of the Administrative Code for a comment in a local VKontakte group criticizing the prayer service for the victory of the Russian troops, ОВД-Инфо reports.

In comments by Fr Nikandr to Forum 18 in July, he declared "I have committed no crime and do not admit any guilt. I am a priest and have the right to denounce evil, regardless of who is involved and the political situation." 
Fr Nikander has the first hearing on 17 October, at the Verkhoturye District Court in the Sverdlovsk Oblast. If convicted, Fr Nikandr could be fined up to 300,000 rubles or imprisoned for up to three years.

An overview on Russian legislation against opposition to the war.

Since the 24th of February 2022, when the President of the Russian Federation, Vladimir Putin, launched the invasion of Ukraine on what he called a "Special Military Operation", much new legislation has been created in Russia to persecute any opposition to it. 

On 4 March President Putin signed two laws amending the Russian Code of Administrative Offences, or simply Administrative Code (with Federal Law No. 31-FZ), and then the Russian Criminal Code (with Federal Law No. 32-FZ). These laws included new penalties for spreading "fake" information about Russia's armed forces. introduce new provisions to the Code of Administrative Offences (article 20.3.3) and to the Russian Criminal Code (article 280.3)

Some new articles were introduced to these codes but only the relevant ones for this case will be examined. Starting with the minor offences, the new Article 20.3.3 of the Administrative Code on “discrediting Russian armed forces,” reads as follows:

“1. Public actions aimed at discrediting the use of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation in order to protect the interests of the Russian Federation and its citizens, maintaining international peace and security, including public calls to prevent the use of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation for these purposes, as well as aimed at discrediting the performance of the state bodies of the Russian Federation of their powers outside the territory Of the Russian Federation for the specified purposes, if these actions do not contain signs of a criminally punishable act, entail the imposition of an administrative fine: 

– on citizens in the amount of 30,000 to 50,000 rubles;
– on officials - from 100,000 to 200,000 rubles;
– on legal entities - from 300,000 to 500,000 rubles.

“2. The same actions accompanied by calls for unauthorized public events, as well as creating a threat of harm to the life and (or) health of citizens, property, a threat of mass disruption of public order and (or) public safety, or a threat of interference with the functioning or termination of the functioning of life support facilities, transport or social infrastructure, credit institutions, objects of energy, industry or communications if these actions do not contain signs of a criminal offense, entail the imposition of an administrative fine:

–  on citizens in the amount of from 50,000 to 100,000 rubles;
– on officials - from 200,000 to 300,000 rubles;
– on legal entities - from 500,000 to 1 million rubles.

As for the most serious criminal penalties, we find two new articles relevant to the cases in question, which are those that have been applied to the two hieromonks.

Fr Ioann Kurmoyarov has been charged under the new Article 207.3 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation, which punishes:

1. Public dissemination, under the guise of reliable reports, of deliberately false information containing data on the use of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation in order to protect the interests of the Russian Federation and its citizens, maintain international peace and security, as well as containing data on the performance by state bodies of the Russian Federation of their powers outside the territory of the Russian Federation for these purposes, is punishable by:

– a fine in the amount of 700,000 to 1.5 million rubles; or in the amount of wages or other income of the convicted person for a period of one year to eighteen months,
– or correctional labor for up to one year,
– or forced labor for up to three years, or imprisonment for the same period.

2. The same act committed: a) by a person using his official position; b) a group of persons, a group of persons by prior agreement or an organized group; c) with the artificial creation of evidence of the prosecution; d) for selfish reasons; e) motivated by political, ideological, racial, national or religious hatred or enmity, or motivated by hatred or enmity against any social group, is punishable by:

– a fine in the amount of 3 million to 5 million rubles; or in the amount of wages or other income of the convicted person for a period of three to five years, 
– or forced labor for up to five years with deprivation of the right to hold certain positions or engage in certain activities for up to five years, 
– or imprisonment for a term of five to ten years with deprivation of the right to hold certain positions or engage in certain activities for up to five years.

3. The acts provided for in parts one and two of this Article, if they entailed grave consequences, are punished by imprisonment for a term of ten to fifteen years with deprivation of the right to hold certain positions or engage in certain activities for a term of up to five years.

On the other hand, Fr Nikandr is being prosecuted under Article 280.3 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation. A repeated offense of the above-mentioned Administrative Code Article 20.3.3 within one year can lead to criminal prosecution under Article 280.3.3 CCRF. The article states the following:

1. Public actions aimed at discrediting the use of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation in order to protect the interests of the Russian Federation and its citizens, maintain international peace and security, including public calls to prevent the use of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation for these purposes, as well as aimed at discrediting the performance by state bodies of the Russian Federation of their powers outside the territory of the Russian Federation for the specified purposes, committed by a person after he was brought to administrative responsibility for a similar act within one year, are punished by: 

– a fine in the amount of one hundred thousand to three hundred thousand rubles or in the amount of wages or other income of the convicted person for a period of one to two years, 
– or forced labor for up to three years, or arrest for a period of four to six months, 
– or imprisonment for up to three years with deprivation of the right to occupy certain positions or engage in certain activities for the same period.

2. Public actions aimed at discrediting the use of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation in order to protect the interests of the Russian Federation and its citizens, maintaining international peace and security, including public calls to prevent the use of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation for these purposes, as well as aimed at discrediting the performance by state bodies of the Russian Federation of their powers outside the territory of the Russian Federation for the specified purposes, resulting in death by negligence and (or) causing harm to the health of citizens, property, mass violations of public order and (or) public safety or that have interfered with the functioning or termination of the functioning of life support facilities, transport or social infrastructure, credit institutions, energy, industry or communications facilities, are punished by:

– a fine in the amount of 300,000 to 1 million rubles or in the amount of the salary or other income of the convicted person for a period of three to five years 
– or imprisonment for up to five years with deprivation of the right to hold certain positions or engage in certain activities for the same period.

(*) CCRF = Criminal Code of the Russian Federation

Sources: Forum 18ОВД-News (1)ОВД-News (2)ОВД-News (3)ОВД-News (4)ОВД-News (5)Novaya Gazeta EuropeMR-7.ruRaskolam.net

Symbolic photo by Mateusz Butkiewicz on Unsplash