Criminal Case Against Priest Iakov Vorontsov Closed Due to Lack of Evidence

Hieromonk Iakov Vorontsov announced on May 8 that the criminal case against him had been closed due to a lack of evidence, Orda.kz reports.

The investigation, which began in December 2023, stemmed from a Facebook post he made in August 2023.

It took 16 months of investigation and a number of forensic examinations to prove my innocence. However, it was clear to me and many others from the very beginning that the case grew out of slanderous libels aimed at taking revenge on me for my commitment to truth and freedom and discrediting my public Christian and civic position,he wrote. 

In a conversation with an Orda.kz journalist, Iakov Vorontsov, spoke in more detail:

The formal reason for initiating a criminal case was one of my posts on Facebook, which I published back in August 2023. I had an emotional publication about Russian fascism and the Russian church. In it, I spoke quite harshly about the Russian church, but, according to my inner convictions, without crossing the boundaries of decency. And a forensic examination later confirmed this, Vorontsov said. 

This publication initially became the reason for collective appeals to the prosecutor's office from parishioners of the Russian Orthodox Church in Kazakhstan.

According to the priest, signatures were collected right in the church:

But in the end, the case was opened not based on a citizen's statement, but on an employee's report. They do this on purpose to cover up the complainants. Because otherwise I would have had the opportunity to file a lawsuit based on a false denunciation.

The priest also discussed his initiative to register another Orthodox church in Kazakhstan, such as a Greek or Bulgarian one. He had announced this plan in December 2023, shortly before the criminal case was opened. 

Due to the investigation, he had to postpone work on this initiative.

Vorontsov became known in 2022 for condemning Russia's invasion of Ukraine while serving as a priest in the Russian Orthodox Church. In 2023, he retired from active service but retained his priestly rank.

He has advocated for the autonomy of the Orthodox Church in Kazakhstan.

Original Author: Igor Ulitin