Additional Name(s): Богдана Гелети
Gender: Male
Perpetrator: Russia
Religion or Belief: Christian – Catholic
Health Concerns: Diabetes
Date of Detainment: November//2022
Current Status: Not Released
Religious Leader: Yes
Most Recent Type of Abuse: Detainment
Reason for Persecution: Religious Figure & Religious Leadership Role
Nature of Charges: Unknown
Bohdan Geleta is detained for his religious leadership role.
In November 2022, Russian forces in Berdiansk, Zaporizhzhia oblast, Ukraine, reportedly abducted Geleta, a priest and employee of the Ukrainian Greek-Catholic Church of the Nativity of the Most Holy Theotokos, and Ivan Levitsky, a hieromonk and rector of that same church. Their abductions reportedly occurred on or around November 16, 2022, with Russian forces searching the church's premises around that same time.
On November 24, 2022, it was revealed in Russian media that Russian forces had detained the two priests and accused them of "subversive" and "partisan" activities directed against Russian forces after allegedly discovering explosives, weapons, and "prohibited literature" on church premises. According to the Ukrainian Catholic Archiepiscopal Exarchate of Donetsk, the accusations levied against the two seem to be in retaliation to Ukrainian authorities searching the Pechersk Lavra in Kyiv, which is under the authority of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the Moscow Patriarchate.
In February 2024, Forum 18 reported that Geleta is being held in a prison in Russian-occupied Crimea, Ukraine.
Geleta reportedly suffers from diabetes.
Related Cases: Ivan Levitsky
Photo attributed to Information Department of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church (UGCC)
"OCCUPIED UKRAINE: "Disappeared" Greek Catholic priests in Russian Investigation Prisons?" Forum 18
"OCCUPIED UKRAINE: Russian occupation forces continue to disappear religious leaders" Forum 18
USCIRF Commissioners Abraham Cooper and Susie Gelman, Tweet, August 30, 2023
USCIRF Issue Update: Russia’s Religious Freedom Violations in Ukraine July 2023
"OCCUPIED UKRAINE: After 4 months, are "disappeared" Greek Catholic priests still alive?" Forum 18
"Єпископ УГКЦ просить посилити молитви за визволення з російського полону двох священиків-редемптористів" Religious Information Service of Ukraine
USCIRF Hearing: Russia’s Invasion of Ukraine: Implications for Religious Freedom March 15, 2023
"OCCUPIED UKRAINE: 'There is no one to replace the arrested priests'" Forum 18
"Russian invaders abduct two Ukrainian Greek Catholic priests from Berdiansk and accuse them of ‘terrorism’" Kharkiv Human Rights Protection Group (KHPG)
"UGCC demands urgent release of illegally arrested priests in Berdyansk: official statement" Religious Information Services of Ukraine (RISU)
"ОФІЦІЙНА ЗАЯВА ДОНЕЦЬКОГО ЕКЗАРХАТУ УГКЦ З ПРИВОДУ НЕЗАКОННОГО АРЕШТУ СВЯЩЕННИКІВ У БЕРДЯНСЬКУ" Ukrainian Catholic Archiepiscopal Exarchate of Donetsk
Additional Name(s): Івана Левицького
Gender: Male
Perpetrator: Russia
Religion or Belief: Christian – Catholic
Date of Detainment: November//2022
Current Status: Not Released
Religious Leader: Yes
Most Recent Type of Abuse: Detainment
Reason for Persecution: Religious Figure & Religious Leadership Role
Nature of Charges: Unknown
Ivan Levitsky is detained for his religious leadership role.
In November 2022, Russian forces in Berdiansk, Zaporizhzhia oblast, Ukraine, reportedly abducted hieromonk Levitsky, rector of the Ukrainian Greek-Catholic Church of the Nativity of the Most Holy Theotokos, and Father Bohdan Geleta, an employee of the same church. Levitsky's abduction reportedly occurred on or around November 16, 2022, with Russian forces searching the church's premises around that same time.
On November 24, 2022, it was revealed in Russian media that Russian forces had detained the two priests and accused them of "subversive" and "partisan" activities directed against Russian forces after allegedly discovering explosives, weapons, and "prohibited literature" on church premises. Russian media also claimed that Levitsky had called on people sabotage and resist Russian forces and had held prayers in support of Ukrainian forces and the government. According to the Ukrainian Catholic Archiepiscopal Exarchate of Donetsk, the accusations levied against the two seem to be in retaliation to Ukrainian authorities searching the Pechersk Lavra in Kyiv, which is under the authority of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the Moscow Patriarchate.
In February 2024, Forum 18 reported that Levitsky is being held in a prison in Russia's Rostov region.
Related Cases: Bohdan Geleta
Photo attributed to Information Department of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church (UGCC)
"OCCUPIED UKRAINE: "Disappeared" Greek Catholic priests in Russian Investigation Prisons?" Forum 18
"OCCUPIED UKRAINE: Russian occupation forces continue to disappear religious leaders" Forum 18
USCIRF Commissioners Abraham Cooper and Susie Gelman, Tweet, August 30, 2023
USCIRF Issue Update: Russia’s Religious Freedom Violations in Ukraine July 2023
"OCCUPIED UKRAINE: After 4 months, are "disappeared" Greek Catholic priests still alive?" Forum 18
"Єпископ УГКЦ просить посилити молитви за визволення з російського полону двох священиків-редемптористів" Religious Information Service of Ukraine
USCIRF Hearing: Russia’s Invasion of Ukraine: Implications for Religious Freedom March 15, 2023
"OCCUPIED UKRAINE: 'There is no one to replace the arrested priests'" Forum 18
"Russian invaders abduct two Ukrainian Greek Catholic priests from Berdiansk and accuse them of ‘terrorism’" Kharkiv Human Rights Protection Group (KHPG)
"UGCC demands urgent release of illegally arrested priests in Berdyansk: official statement" Religious Information Services of Ukraine (RISU)
"ОФІЦІЙНА ЗАЯВА ДОНЕЦЬКОГО ЕКЗАРХАТУ УГКЦ З ПРИВОДУ НЕЗАКОННОГО АРЕШТУ СВЯЩЕННИКІВ У БЕРДЯНСЬКУ" Ukrainian Catholic Archiepiscopal Exarchate of Donetsk
Additional Name(s): Homayoun Khanlari, همایون خانلری
Gender: Male
Current Location: Lakan Prison, Rasht
Perpetrator: Iran
Religion or Belief: Bahá`í
Reports of Torture: No
Reports of Medical Neglect: No
Appeal: Rejected
Sentence: 2 Years' Imprisonment
Date of Detainment: September/28/2023
Current Status: Not Released
Religious Leader: No
Most Recent Type of Abuse: Imprisonment
Reason for Persecution: Religious Activity Religious Belief
Nature of Charges: Spreading Propaganda & False or Misleading Ideas, Information, or Materials
Homayoun Khanlori is imprisoned for his religious belief and activity.
On November 29, 2022, authorities in Rasht arrested Khanlori reportedly in relation to his being Baha'i. Authorities reportedly raided his home and workplace and confiscated some of his belongings.
On December 24, 2022, Khanlori was released on bail.
On an unspecified date, the Rasht Revolutionary Court reportedly sentenced Khanlori to two years in prison for "educational or propaganda activities contrary to or disturbing the holy Islamic law." He was also deprived of social rights for ten years and fined 50 million tomans.
In June 2023, it was reported that the Gilan Court of Appeals has upheld his sentence.
On September 28, 2023, Khanlori was taken into custody to begin serving his sentence in Lakan Prison in Rasht.
Photo attributed to Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA)
ARAM Iran, Tweet, October 1, 2023
"همایون خانلری، شهروند بهائی جهت تحمل حبس راهی زندان رشت شد" Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA)
"HOMAYOUN KHANLARI" United For Iran
HRANA English, Tweet, June 28, 2023
"همایون خانلری، شهروند بهائی با تودیع قرار وثیقه آزاد شد" Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA)
"Iran Detains Local Baha’i Theatre Figure; Whereabouts Unknown" IranWire
ARAM Iran, Tweet, November 30, 2022
"بازداشت همایون خانلری، شهروند بهائی در رشت" Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA)