Adam “Nergal” Darski, vocalist/guitarist for Polish blackened death metallers Behemoth, has notched up yet another legal victory in his native country. Much has been stated about his various entanglements with religiously-minded authority figures in Poland over the years.
While ripping up a bible onstage in 2007 was perhaps his most controversial row with the Polish courts, there have been numerous other incidents that have found him in the sights of his Christian opponents. Recent years have seen him win three acquittals for allegedly insulting the Polish coat of arms with a Behemoth merch design, and an acquittal for ‘offending religious feelings’ after sharing a photograph of his foot on a painting of the Virgin Mary on social media back in 2019.
With such a long history of allegedly religiously offensive legal matters to contend with, Nergal rallied the public for support. Back in 2021, he went so far as to crowdfund a legal defense fund for himself and others in Poland who have faced the charge of ‘offending religious feelings’.
Last month Darski survived another appeal for offending religious feelings, with two charges ending in acquittal and a third being conditionally dropped. At the heart of this case was a phallic sex toy that had a depiction of a crucified Jesus Christ attached to it.
Video footage and images of it shared on social media by Nergal back in 2016-2018 first saw the aforementioned charges filed against him. That piece of controversial artwork was gifted to him by Tom Gabriel Warrior of Triptykon and Celtic Frost fame, and was apparently seized by authorities as evidence in the case.
Polish anti-blasphemy laws state that, ‘Whoever offends religious feelings of other people by publicly insulting an object of religious cult or a place for public holding of religious ceremonies, is subject to a fine, restriction of liberty or loss of liberty for up to 2 years.’
In this latest decision on the case, a Gdansk District Court ruled that while Nergal‘s display of the wooden phallus was disrespectful, his actions in the video were ‘meaninglessly empty’, thus not meeting the necessary criteria for the charge to stick. Nergal took to social media this morning (March 08th) to comment on this latest legal victory, offering:
“In 2018, on this very day, I posted a silly video on Instagram, singing an old children’s song for Women’s Day while waving a certain artifact. Hardly high comedy, but was it blasphemous or shocking? I didn’t think so—but it was enough for a few clowns on the other side to take offense and run straight to court.
A certain conservative MEP loudly vowed I’d end up in prison, while the ever-litigious Ordo Iuris joined the choir of the outraged. After years in court and tens of thousands zlotis spent on legal defense, I was fully acquitted just days ago.
The verdict is a bittersweet victory tho. I’m glad justice prevailed, glad I put my opponents in their place. But I still consider it as an absurd that a mediocre joke in this country can spiral into a costly, nerve-wracking legal battle.
Nevertheless, to all the women out there… loooots of love
PS. The artifact in question is a stunning sculpture by my friend and Black Metal legend, Tom Gabriel Fischer. Right now, my lawyers are working to have it returned to me, as it was a personal gift from him.”
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