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A6 WORLD NEWS
Wednesday 30 december 2020
Russian monk charged with inciting suicidal acts in sermons

By VLADIMIR ISACHENKOV assault and sentenced to
Associated Press 13 years in prison, He joined
MOSCOW (AP) — Russian a church school after his re-
riot police stormed into lease and later became a
a monastery Tuesday to monk.
detain a rebel monk who The charismatic priest
has castigated the Kremlin quickly became known
and the Russian Orthodox for his efforts to open new
Church leadership and de- churches and monasteries
nied the existence of the in the Urals. In his fiery ser-
coronavirus. mons, he denounced al-
In the overnight show- leged plots of the “world
down, police clashed with government” and glorified
the priest’s supporters at Russia’s last czar, Nicholas
the Sredneuralsk monas- II, who was killed by the Bol-
tery outside Yekaterinburg sheviks along with his entire
in the Ural Mountains. family in Yekaterinburg in
The monk, Father Sergiy, 1918.
was quickly flown to Mos- Father Sergiy has been the
cow, where a court ap- most visible and outspo-
proved his arrest. Authori- ken of a few ultra-conser-
ties charged him with incit- In this file photo taken on Wednesday, June 17, 2020, Father Sergiy, right, a Russian monk who vative clerics who have
ing suicidal actions through has defied the Russian Orthodox Church’s leadership, speaks to journalists in Russian Ural’s challenged the leadership
sermons in which he urged Sredneuralsk, Russia. of the Russian Orthodox
believers to “die for Russia.” Associated Press Church. Observers have
He denied the accusations. said the monk’s rebellious
Russia’s top investigative VID-19 as part of a global President Vladimir Putin Facing stiff resistance by actions and now his deten-
agency, the Investigative plot to control the masses as a “traitor to the Moth- hundreds of his supporters, tion undermine the author-
Committee, said Father via chips. erland” who was serving church officials and local ity of Patriarch Kirill.
Sergiy also faces other The monk, who has urged a Satanic “world govern- authorities appeared reluc- In another sign of internal
criminal charges related to followers to disobey the ment.” He also denounced tant to evict him for months. tensions within the church,
his allegedly arbitrary ac- government’s lockdown the head of the Russian Or- Hundreds of his support- an ecclesiastical panel
tion to take control of the measures, had holed up at thodox Church, Patriarch ers continued rallying at ruled Tuesday to defrock
monastery. the monastery near Yekat- Kirill, and other top clerics the monastery hours after a liberal-leaning theolo-
When the virus arrived in erinburg he founded years as “heretics” who must be he was taken away. Some gian, Protodeacon Andrei
Russia early this year, the ago. Dozens of burly vol- “thrown out.” wept. Kurayev, who has been ac-
65-year-old monk denied its unteers, including veterans The Russian Orthodox Father Sergiy, who was tive in expressing his views
existence and denounced of the separatist conflict Church stripped Father Ser- born as Nikolai Romanov, online. Kurayev lamented
government efforts to stem in eastern Ukraine, helped giy of his abbot’s rank for served as a police officer the verdict as a punish-
the pandemic as “Satan’s enforce his rules, while the breaking monastic rules in during Soviet times. After ment for sharing opinions
electronic camp.” He has prioress and several nuns July, but he rejected the leaving the ranks of law en- that sometimes differed
described the vaccines be- left. ruling and ignored police forcement, he was convict- from official stance of the
ing developed against CO- The monk chastised Russian investigators’ summons. ed of murder, robbery and Moscow Patriarchate.q

Egypt court sentences ex-student to 3 years in #MeToo case

ulous country. #MeToo movement aims American International
The Cairo Economic Court to hold accountable those School, one of Egypt’s most
convicted Ahmed Bassam involved in sexual miscon- expensive private high
Zaki, a former student at duct and those who cover schools, and the American
American University in Cai- it up. University in Cairo. AUC offi-
ro, of blackmailing and sex- According to accusations cials said he left the univer-
ually harassing two women. posted on social media, sity in 2018.
Zaki is being tried sepa- Zaki would mine the pool Zaki’s case, activists say,
rately in criminal court on of mutual friends on Face- shows that misogyny cuts
charges of rape and at- book, online groups or across Egypt’s stark class
tempted rape of three oth- school clubs, for females to lines. Many in Egypt have
er women who were minors target. previously portrayed sexual
at the time of the alleged He would start with flattery, harassment as a problem
crimes, according to the then pressure the women of poor urban youth.
court documents. In addi- and girls to share intimate Sexual assault and harass-
In this June 14, 2014 file photo, Egyptian women shout slogans tion, he faces drug posses- photos that he later used to ment are deep-seated
and hold banners during a protest against sexual assaults, in
Cairo, Egypt. sion charges. blackmail them with if they problems in Egypt, where
Associated Press Tuesday’s verdict can did not have sex with him, victims must also fight the
be appealed to a higher according to the accusa- undercurrent of a conser-
By SAMY MAGDY conduct charges and sen- court. tions. In some instances he vative culture that typi-
Associated Press tenced him to three years The former student was ar- threatened to send com- cally ties female chastity
CAIRO (AP) — An Egyptian in prison, the first conviction rested in July after allega- promising pictures to family to a family’s reputation. In
court Tuesday convicted a in a case that has fueled tions against him surfaced members. courts, the burden of proof
former student at an elite the #MeToo movement in on social media, resulting in Zaki hails from a wealthy lies heavily on the victims of
university of sexual mis- the Arab world’s most pop- a firestorm of criticism. The family and studied at the such crimes.q