Political Prisoner Priest Andrzej Juchniewicz In Exhausted State

• 13.07.2024, 14:29

The priest is deprived of many basic human needs.

The rector of the Roman Catholic parish in Shumilino, Father Andrzej Jukhniewicz, has been in prison for more than two months. It is still unknown what he is accused of.

The website Catholic.life reports that the believers of the parish of the Mother of God of Fatima in Shumilino still do not know what exactly and under what article their rector Andrzej Yukhniewicz is accused — this is explained by the secret investigation. The priest has a lawyer, but he also does not say anything, since he was forced to sign a non-disclosure agreement.

The only thing that was conveyed to the believers was that the priest was in an exhausted state; he was deprived of many basic human needs. For example, only recently was he given the opportunity to take a shower — after almost two months of imprisonment.

Believers write letters to the rector in the pre-trial detention center, deliver parcels so that he does not feel alone, and try to petition the investigative and prosecutorial authorities to have him released from custody on his own recognizance. The parish wrote a collective appeal to the office of the Commissioner for Religious and National Affairs, but they replied that they could not help in this matter.

Nothing is known about the actions of the church structures — there have been no public prayers, statements, reminders about the priest’s situation or any minimal information yet, notes Catholic.life.

Andrzej Juchniewicz was detained on May 8. First, the priest was accused of posting an image of a white-red-white flag and the flag of Ukraine on his Facebook profile photo in February 2022.

Yukhnevich was sentenced to 15 days of administrative arrest four times in a row, and then a criminal case was opened and he was transferred to a pre-trial detention center. Human rights activists recognized him as a political prisoner.