February 2008 – March 2015
The Bible Case
Court Judgement - Innocent
_______________________________________________________________________I. February 2008
First Prosecution's indictment against Nergal, case of insulting religious feelings
II. June – August 2011
First trial, judgement of the Court of First Instance. Found Innocent.
III. October 2012
Judgement of the Polish Supreme Court.
Resolution of the legal issue about insulting religious feelings
IV. January 2013
Judgement of the Court of Appeal
Decision about retrial - the case is referred back to the first instance
V. March – June 2013
Retrial, New judgement of the Court of First Instance. Found Innocent.
VI. February 2014
Judgement of the Court of Appeal. Judgement upheld.
VII. March 2015
Judgement of the Polish Supreme Court. Judgement upheld.
“A lower court will now decide if Darski is guilty of the crime, which carries a maximum sentence of two years in jail.”
Links/Stories:
August 2016 - Present
The Polish Emblem Case
Court Judgement - Innocent
_______________________________________________________________________I. August 2016
Case opens, accused of insulting the Polish emblem
II. December 2017 – September 2018
First trial, judgement of the Court of First Instance. Found innocent.
III. September 2018
Judgement of the Court of Appeal
Decision about retrial - the case is referred back to the first instance
IV. November 2019 - Present
Retrial in the Court of First Instance.
“Nergal, the shirt’s designer Rafal Wechterowicz and another person have been officially charged with disrespecting Poland's national coat of arms, and if convicted may face fines and probations.."
Links/Stories:
March 2018 – Present
The Sculpture Case
ONGOING
_______________________________________________________________________I. March 2018
Case opens, accused of insulting religious feelings
II. January 2019 - Present
Trial in the Court of First Instance
"Well, the situation is just growing worse and worse. Poland is becoming more and more homophobic, more nationalistic, more conservative in the wrong way - in the evil understanding of the word - and I'm one of the big things, of course. And I'm on a target. My next court case starts on March 20th, and we'll see how it goes."
Links/Stories:
2020 - Present
The Virgin Mary Case
ONGOING
_______________________________________________________________________I. January 2021 – Present
Case opened, accused of offending religious feelings
“Behemoth’s Nergal has been convicted of “offending religious feelings” after posting a photo of himself standing on an image of the Virgin Mary. The musician has been fined PLN 15,000 (roughly $4,000) and ordered to pay court costs of an additional PLN 3,500."
Links/Stories: