A judge in Poland has ruled a death metal singer who tore up a Bible during a show was entitled to do so as an artist acting in a way consistent with the genre. Adam Darski, who goes by the stage name Nergal and is the frontman for the death metal band Behemoth, was charged with offending religion after he ripped up the Bible during a 2007 concert in the Polish town of Gdynia.
He was found innocent by a court last year but prosecutors appealed, and again the court cleared him.
Concert video footage shows Darski throwing the torn pages to the audience and asking fans to burn them. According to Polish news agency PAP, he also called the Bible a deceitful book and the church a criminal sect.
In his ruling Judge Krzysztof Wieckowski said he considered Darski’s actions a form of art consistent with the style of his band. He added that the court had no intention of limiting freedom of expression or the right to criticise religion.
The musician said on his band’s website: I’m so glad to see that intelligence won over religious fanatics in my home country.
