No stranger to ruffling religious types in his home country of Poland, Behemoth's Adam "Nergal" Darski has been convicted by a Warsaw court for "offending religious feelings," stemming from an image the frontman shared on social media of a foot stamping an image of the Virgin Mary.
The new charges against Darski surfaced earlier this month (February 8), despite the frontman's offending photo (seen below) being posted in 2019.
Polish tabloid Super Express reported that Darski's post was brought to the attention of prosecutors by ultra-conservative legal group Ordo Iuris and an organization called the Patriotic Society (Towarzystwo Patriotyczne), who accused the musician of "publicly insulting the object of Christian religious worship in the form of the person of the Mother of God" by sharing the offending image on social media.
"In the course of proceedings, the aggrieved parties were questioned and they clearly stated that their religious feelings were offended," said the spokeswoman for Warsaw district prosecutor's office, Aleksandra Skrzyniarz [via Blabbermouth].
Skrzyniarz added that prosecutors also consulted an expert in religious studies, whose "opinion clearly concludes that treading with a shoe on the image of the Mother of God is an offence against religious feelings."
Today, Notes from Poland reports that Darski appealed the ruling, which means the case will now go to trial. The frontman had initially been ordered to pay a fine of 15,000 złoty (about $5,125 CAD) and court costs of almost 3,500 zloty (about $1,196 CAD).
In 2011, Darski was acquitted in Poland on charges stemming from a 2007 performance in the country, where he called the Catholic Church "the most murderous cult on the planet" and tore up a copy of the Bible, calling it "a book of lies."
Sharing news of the decision on Instagram today, Darski wrote in a caption, "Will I let superstition and fundamentalist dogmas capitalize on this and EVERY other case of the same nature? FUCK NO!"
The new charges against Darski surfaced earlier this month (February 8), despite the frontman's offending photo (seen below) being posted in 2019.
Polish tabloid Super Express reported that Darski's post was brought to the attention of prosecutors by ultra-conservative legal group Ordo Iuris and an organization called the Patriotic Society (Towarzystwo Patriotyczne), who accused the musician of "publicly insulting the object of Christian religious worship in the form of the person of the Mother of God" by sharing the offending image on social media.
"In the course of proceedings, the aggrieved parties were questioned and they clearly stated that their religious feelings were offended," said the spokeswoman for Warsaw district prosecutor's office, Aleksandra Skrzyniarz [via Blabbermouth].
Skrzyniarz added that prosecutors also consulted an expert in religious studies, whose "opinion clearly concludes that treading with a shoe on the image of the Mother of God is an offence against religious feelings."
Today, Notes from Poland reports that Darski appealed the ruling, which means the case will now go to trial. The frontman had initially been ordered to pay a fine of 15,000 złoty (about $5,125 CAD) and court costs of almost 3,500 zloty (about $1,196 CAD).
In 2011, Darski was acquitted in Poland on charges stemming from a 2007 performance in the country, where he called the Catholic Church "the most murderous cult on the planet" and tore up a copy of the Bible, calling it "a book of lies."
Sharing news of the decision on Instagram today, Darski wrote in a caption, "Will I let superstition and fundamentalist dogmas capitalize on this and EVERY other case of the same nature? FUCK NO!"
