Czech police detained a Russian Orthodox Church bishop after drugs were found in his car.
Czech police have released a Russian Orthodox bishop who was previously detained on suspicion of drug possession. Moscow has called the arrest a planned provocation with political overtones, writes The Guardian.
Bishop Hilarion, known by his secular name, Grigory Alfeyev, was stopped by police on May 31 in Karlovy Vary, a spa town in the western Czech Republic popular with Russian tourists. During a search of his car, containers containing a white substance were found in the trunk.
On June 2, after his release, Hilarion, who had not been charged, published a statement. In it, the bishop announced that an examination had confirmed that the substance found was an illegal drug. However, he insisted he was framed.
"The mere fact that a prohibited substance was discovered does not answer the main question: how did these items end up in the car in the first place," he said in a Telegram post.
60-year-old Illarion heads the Russian Orthodox parish in Karlovy Vary, home to a large Russian-speaking diaspora.
The Czech National Anti-Drug Agency previously reported that the bishop's car was stopped following an anonymous tip about the transport of narcotic and psychotropic substances.
The Russian Foreign Ministry called the detention a "deliberate, coordinated provocation."
The Russian Orthodox Church described the incident as a "classic set-up." The Russian Foreign Ministry reported that the Czech Republic's Chargé d'Affaires in Moscow, Jan Ondřejka, had been summoned to the ministry, where an official protest had been lodged regarding the detention.
Previously, Hilarion headed the Department of External Church Relations of the Russian Orthodox Church and effectively served as the “church’s minister of foreign affairs.”
Once considered a close associate of Patriarch Kirill, the head of the Russian Orthodox Church and an ally of Vladimir Putin, Hilarion has lost his position in the church leadership in recent years.
Unlike many high-ranking clergy who openly supported Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine, he neither supported nor condemned the war. Shortly after the outbreak of hostilities in February 2022, he was demoted and sent to serve abroad.
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In December 2024, the Synod of the Russian Orthodox Church removed Hilarion from the leadership of the Budapest-Hungarian Diocese after his young assistant accused the bishop of sexual harassment. Hilarion himself denies these accusations. He has also been criticized for his lavish lifestyle, particularly yachting, skiing trips, and reported ownership of an estate near Budapest. He claims he was able to afford the property and his lifestyle thanks to royalties from books and films.
Later, Hilarion was transferred to serve in the Church of Saints Peter and Paul in Karlovy Vary.
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