Metropolitan bishop Hilarion has been held in the Czech Republic after “a white substance” was allegedly found in his car
Moscow has demanded the Czech Republic immediately release Metropolitan Bishop Hilarion detained in the country, branding the incident a “fabricated persecution” of the senior Russian Christian Orthodox hierarch.
The bishop was detained by Czech police on Sunday while traveling in a car from his parish church of Saint Peter and Paul in the resort town of Karlovy Vary. According to Hilarion’s press service, the law enforcement did not provide any solid reasoning behind the traffic stop, proceeding to search the car instead. The law enforcement recovered “four small containers with white substance” from the car’s trunk, believed to be illicit drugs.
“I have never had any connection to the illegal drug trade. Since I’m a clergyman, the very suggestion of such a thing is utterly false. I insist on a full, independent, and procedurally impeccable investigation of what happened,” the bishop said in a statement.
According to the hierarch’s legal team, his car was searched without proper procedure, including witnesses and video recording. The law enforcement officers also allegedly went straight for its trunk and did not search the personal belongings of Hilarion and his driver.
Disclaimer : This story is auto aggregated by a computer programme and has not been created or edited by DOWNTHENEWS. Publisher: rt.com
