Music
Behemoth's singer is still in court over a Bible he ripped on stage in 2007
by Tyler Munro
October 30, 2012
Last year we told you that Behemoth frontman Adam “Nergal” Darski wouldn’t be charged for tearing up a Bible on stage after a judge called his actions a form of art.
Well… we might have jumped the gun, because the Polish Supreme Court has now ruled that he did commit a crime, even if he saw it as artistic expression.
Reuters reports that the case has essentially become a semantic “he said, she said” argument, with Darski’s lawyers arguing that he didn’t commit a crime because he wasn’t intending to offend anyone and the plaintiffs essentially saying “too bad.”
While this means the case is moving back to court, where if guilty he can face up to two years in jail, the general thought is that Darski won’t see any time behind bars. Still, in the wake of the Pussy Riot controversy (which this case actually pre-dates by five years), this is another damning indictment on a failure to separate Church and State.
If you need a refresher, this is all concerning a show in Darski’s hometown of Gdynia back in 2007, during which he tore up a Bible and called the religion “the most murderous cult on the planet.” Maybe not a nice gesture in a country whose legal system is still largely predicated on religious dominion, but far from a heinous crime. In fact, it’s such a non-issue that Darski’s still working as a judge on The Voice of Poland.
