Budapest, October 24, 2024
Photo: rapsinews.ru
His Eminence Metropolitan Hilarion (Alfeyev) of Budapest welcomes the findings of a new forensic analysis that exposes alleged evidence against him as fabricated, telling RIA-Novosti that these results will be presented to investigators and likely lead to criminal charges of defamation.
Serious accusations leveled against Metropolitan Hilarion of Budapest—hierarch says he’s being blackmailedOn July 5, Novaya Gazeta Evropa published a lengthy piece containing a number of serious accusations against His Eminence Metropolitan Hilarion (Alfeyev), former head of the Moscow Patriarchate’s Department for External Church Relations and currently the ruling hierarch of the Diocese of Budapest.
“>In July, Met. Hilarion’s former subdeacon and assistant George Suzuki made a series of serious accusations against him, including sexual harassment, publishing what he claimed were secretly recorded video and audio evidence through media outlets. The Metropolitan, who maintains his innocence, emphasized that he is actually the victim in an existing criminal case against Suzuki, not a suspect in any investigation. The former assistant robbed the Metropolitan before leaving Hungary, and once back in Japan, began blackmailing him, Met. Hilarion says.
The Russian Legal Information Agency has released findings from a forensic technical examination of video and audio materials that were used to discredit Met. Hilarion, arguing that they are sophisticated forgeries.
The forensic analysis, conducted by the certified Truth Center for Law and Forensic Expertise, demonstrated that both the video and audio materials had been manipulated. Experts found evidence of multiple technical alterations, including frame manipulation, artificial lighting changes, disproportionate scaling, and deliberate blurring of facial features. The audio recording, purportedly showing the Metropolitan discussing his wine collection, was also shown to contain signs of digital manipulation that made it impossible to authenticate the speaker’s identity.
The case has had serious consequences for Met. Hilarion, who was 
Synod temporarily suspends Metropolitan Hilarion (Alfeyev) while commission investigates accusationsThe Holy Synod of the Moscow Patriarchate resolved yesterday to temporarily suspend His Eminence Metropolitan Hilarion (Alfeyev) of Budapest while a commission “studies the situation in the Diocese of Budapest and Hungary.”
“>temporarily removed from his positions as Metropolitan of Budapest and Hungary and chairman of the Synodal Biblical and Theological Commission while a committee investigated the allegations.
Cybersecurity experts interviewed by RAPSI warned that this case highlights the growing threat of sophisticated digital forgeries. “With current technology, it’s possible to create fake audio or video evidence that could implicate anyone in wrongdoing within a couple of hours,” noted one expert from a major Russian IT company.
Legal experts emphasize that in today’s digital age, only analog recordings on physical media can be considered completely reliable evidence.
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