On August 9, 2024, the preparatory court session in the case of Metropolitan Arseny of Svyatogorsk, the vicar of the Dormition Svyatogorsk Lavra of the Donetsk diocese, continued in the Slavyansk City District Court, according to the monastery's page on the VKontakte social network.
This meeting was supposed to take place on August 8, but not all of Vladyka Arseny's lawyers could take part in it due to the fact that they were involved in other court proceedings on that day. The defense party sent an application to the court in advance with a request to postpone the meeting to August 9.
However, on August 8, Vladyka Arseny was escorted from the Dnipro pre-trial detention center to the Slavyansky Court, where he exercised his right to the presence of all lawyers, and therefore the meeting did not take place. A one-way convoy takes half a day. Departure from the pre-trial detention center takes place after 6 a.m. The rise is at least an hour before that. Next — moving in uncomfortable conditions of a paddy wagon, while Metropolitan Arseny was not provided with food or even water for the journey. The return trip to Dnipro in the same conditions ended at 23.30. In general, on August 8, Vladyka spent about 16 hours on the road in uncomfortable conditions of a paddy wagon.
On August 9, the convoy (with the same conditions) was repeated — now for actual participation in the meeting. In addition, in connection with these moves, Metropolitan Arseny managed to rest for no more than 4 hours on the night of August 8-9.
Such actions against the vicar of the Svyatogorsk Lavra can only be called conscious and purposeful torture.
The meeting on August 9 lasted two hours. Vladyka Arseny was in the "box". The brethren of the Svyatogorsk Lavra and the sisters of the St. John's Monastery of Adamovka arrived in the courtroom to support him. They were allowed to give the bishop only some fruits and vegetables.
Despite the priority of resolving the issue of Vladyka's detention, the above-mentioned procedural procedure has not been initiated by the judge.
At the same time, the judge immediately considered and granted the prosecutor's request to hold the trial in closed mode, thereby depriving the public of the opportunity to follow the trial.
The court also ignored the request of Vladyka Arseny and the lawyers not to escort him every time from the Dnipro pre-trial detention center to the Slavyansk city District Court, but to allow him to participate in the meetings via video link.