BISHOP GEDEON'S UKRAINIAN PASSPORT CANCELLED
Interfax-Religiia, 15 February 2019
UPTs Bishop Gedeon, who yesterday was not admitted into Ukraine, at the time of submitting documents for getting citizenship presented false information about existing citizenship and therefore his Ukrainian passport was considered to be invalid, the State Migration Service of the country reports.
"In 2018, the department of the migration service in Volyn oblast received information from the S.B.U., a check was conducted, and it was established that Ukrainian citizenship was acquired by a citizen of the Russian Federation by a violation of legislation. He was a leader of one of the religious organizations that news media link with the intelligence services of an aggressor country. In particular, it was established that when the person submitted documents for gaining Ukrainian citizenship, false information about existing citizenships was presented," the press service of the State Migration Service reports.
It was noted that on the basis of results of a check conducted on the basis of a letter from the S.B.U., in June 2018 both the decision about registration of Ukrainian citizenship of Bishop Gedeon and the decision about issuing him passports of a citizen of Ukraine were cancelled.
"At the same time, in accordance with Ukrainian legislation, the passports of a Ukrainian citizen (domestic and foreign), the aforementioned person, were ruled to be invalid and entered into the respective data bases of the State Migration Service," the report says.
At the migration service it was mentioned that on 13 February an attempt to cross the borders of Ukraine was made by a foreigner using invalid documents, while an invalid passport of a Ukrainian citizen for exit abroad was confiscated, and the foreigner was returned to the country from which he tried to enter Ukraine using invalid documents.
As reported, on 13 February, around 18:00, at the Borispol international airport, during registration of passengers on a flight arriving from Frankfurt, an order of one of the law enforcement agencies was fulfilled with respect to Bishop Gedeon and his Ukrainian foreign passport was confiscated, inasmuch as he has citizenship in several countries. During conversation it turned out that the detainee "has engaged in anti-Ukrainian propaganda and is an active proponent of the 'Russian world.'"
A photocopy of a protocol of a seized (confiscated) document was posted on Bishop Gedeon's Facebook page, in which it is indicated that border officers discovered on him a passport for exit abroad, which had been reported as lost. In particular, the protocol contains information that this document in the name of Yuri Kharon, according to information of the department of the State Migration Service in Volyn oblast, is registered among lost, stolen, and invalid passport documents and is subject to confiscation.
The vicar abbot of the Desyatyna monastery of Kiev, Bishop Gedeon (secular name, Yuri Kharon), who yesterday was not admitted into Ukraine, on Thursday morning flew out on a return flight to Frankfurt, a spokesperson for the State Border Service of Ukraine, Oleg Slobodian, reported. (tr. by PDS, posted 15 February 2019)
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