In Sochi, conflict between priest and local young men ends with fight and criminal case

In Sochi, the police investigate the incident, which occurred in the Lazarevskoe District between a priest and local residents. As a result of the conflict, the priest was repeatedly beaten. Both sides appealed to the police.

The conflict occurred in the village of Gossortuchastok of the Lazarevskoe District of Sochi, and it involved Hieromonk Lazar (Semenov), the rector of the local Church of the Holy Royal Martyrs, and members of the Armenian Diaspora.

The "Interfax-South" reports with reference to the Chief Department for the Krasnodar Territory of the Ministry of Internal Affairs (MIA) that the criminal case was instituted under Article 112 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation (deliberate infliction of moderate bodily harm).

Young people involved in the conflict claim that the priest was in a state of alcoholic intoxication and beat their friend. "After an Armenian guy stood in support of his Russian friend, the priest burst into curses against the Armenian people and insulted the memory of the victims of the Armenian Genocide, which 100th anniversary was marked this year," the "Yerkramas" reports.

According to Gamayak Ustyan, Chairman of the city branch of the Union of Armenians of Russia, the incident is of purely domestic nature, and it is not related to interethnic relations.

Hieromonk Lazar claims that he decided to talk to the young people, since he heard rumors that they were allegedly engaged in cultivation of hemp in the territory of the village. The hieromonk does not deny the fact that he had made disloyal statements about the Armenian people.

The Kuban Archdiocese of the Russian Orthodox Church has condemned the act improper to the priest's rank.

Full text of the article is available on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’.