Earlier this month, a court in Stavropol, Russia started hearing the case against atheist blogger Viktor Krasnov, who allegedly faces up to a year in prison or a fine of 300,000 rubles for denying God’s existence during an online debate in 2014. Krasnov (38 years old) was accused of violating a 2013 legislation that forbids Russians from insulting widely accepted religious sentiments.
“If I say that the collection of Jewish fairy tales entitled the Bible is complete [expletive], that is that. At least for me,” Krasnov wrote in an October 2014 exchange on Vkontakte, a Russian social media website. “There is no God!”
The blogger’s comments went on to offend at least two other Vkontakte users, namely Dmitry Burnyashev and Alexander Kravtsov, who decided to report Krasnov’s posts to the police. Soon after this, a federal probe was launched against Krasnov, with Russia’s Investigative Committee eventually determining that his message was in fact aimed at insulting the religious sentiments of believers and an offensive character against a religion. Krasnov was forcibly admitted to a psychiatric hospital thereafter, spending as many as 30 days in the facility against his own will. After finally being determined sane, he was made to stand trial.
“I did not intend to insult anyone, speaking my mind not in a church or any sort of religious community, but in an amusing community, where religious questions are never discussed. Knowing our Russian reality, I can’t say how this will end,” Krasnov said in an interview with Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty’s Russian Service (RFE/RL). “If we take into account that courts are required to come out with guilty verdicts 99 percent of the time, there’s nothing I can say.”
While the online discussion between the three users continue to exist on Vkontakte, Krasnov’s comments seem to have been deleted.
The blogger also revealed that he received several death threats from Orthodox Christians, who said they would inflict all kinds of bad things on him and his family members. When he apparently reported these calls to the police, they asked him to return upon being killed.
Andrei Sabinin, Krasnov’s lawyer, told RFE/RL that his client’s accusers conveyed in a closed-door hearing that they wanted him to be punished for his statements against God.
“I don’t know how you can treat social networking posts seriously,” said Krasnov. “Looks like we need a law to protect atheists’ feelings too.”
Krasnov is currently being tried under Article 148 of the Russian Criminal Code (RCC), which was passed after feminist punk rock protest group Pussy Riot performed a prayer inside a cathedral in Moscow in February 2012, calling on the Virgin Mary to drive away Russian President Vladimir Putin from the country. Two members of the band were eventually sentenced to two years in jail under charges of hooliganism instigated by religious hatred. Even though insulting the religious beliefs of others was still punishable before the passage of this controversial law, amendments made in the wake of the Pussy Riot incident resulted in the possibility of prison sentences for individuals convicted of blasphemy.
Amnesty International has condemned Article 148 of RCC for constricting the space for freedom of expression in the country.
The group said, “The law has no place on the statute books of modern, rights-respecting democracy.”
While there is no official religion in Russia, over 70 percent of the country’s population abides by Orthodox Christianity, found a 2014 Pew survey. The Russian Orthodox Church is largely considered an ally of Putin, with various Orthodox outfits having played an important role in the country’s nationalist politics.
Photo Credits: Fakeoff
