Support The Moscow Times!

Russian Orthodox Christians Demand Punishment for Online Insults

Two Orthodox Christians have demanded that a resident of the southern Russian city of Stavropol be punished for hurting the feelings of believers online, the accused’s lawyer Andrei Sabinin said, the Gazeta.ru news portal reported Wednesday.

The two believers had been insulted by a post on social network VKontakete that said “There’s no god.”

The victims were taken to a Stavropol regional court and questioned regarding the perceived insult to religious believers — a criminal case has been opened under Section 1 of Article 148 of the Russia's Criminal Code. The hurtful comment was made by local resident Viktor Krasnov on VKontakte, Gazeta.ru reported.

“Today, court bailiffs brought the victims to court due to former soldier Alexander Kravtsov (who was brought from Abkhazia) and local resident Dmitry Barnyashev’s failure to appear at previous court hearings,” Sabinin said, Gazeta.ru reported.

Kravtsov emphasized that he spoke not only on his own behalf but on the behalf of other Orthodox Christians because he believes that their feelings have also been offended, Gazeta.ru reported.

Read more