Politicians from the conservative Law and Justice party are taking a Polish death metal band to court for insulting Roman Catholics.
In 2007, Adam “Nergal” Darski, leader of the death metal band Behemoth, tore the Bible to pieces during a concert in the Ucho club in the northern city of Gdynia.
After the incident Ryszard Nowak, head of the All-Polish Committee for Defense Against Sects sued Behemoth for promoting Satanism. Although a court expert witness on religious matters said that the act of destroying the Holy Bible could offend somebody’s religious feelings, the case was discontinued because no one except Nowak accused Behemoth of insulting their religious beliefs.
However, three years after the event, conservative Law and Justice MPs have decided to re-open the case and accuse the band of attacking the religious beliefs of Roman Catholics as a group.
“The band is constantly undermining Christian values and symbols and insulting the Catholic faith during so-called “artistic” performances and talk-shows on the radio and TV,” says Law and Justice MP Jolanta Szczypinska. The MP assures that her party will not allow what she calls “pseudo artists” to hurt Poles’ religious feelings on the pretext of the freedom of speech.
Behemoth's latest album Evangelion has been well received by death metal critics and fans in Poland and abroad. Currently the band are touring in the US. (mg/pg)