The Tannhäuser case was dismissed “due to the absence of an offense”

The court stopped the proceedings in the case of the offensive production of Wagner's opera in the Novosibirsk theater that seemed offensive to Orthodox Christians. The court did not find the elements of the offense.

On March 10, 2015, the Magistrate Court of the Central District of Novosibirsk terminated the proceedings in the case of the production of Wagner's opera Tannhäuser at the local opera and ballet theater.

Case under Part 2 of Art. 5.26 of the Code of Administrative Offenses of the Russian Federation (deliberate public desecration of religious or liturgical literature, objects of religious veneration, signs or emblems of ideological symbols and paraphernalia, or their damage or destruction) against director Timofey Kulyabin and theater director Boris Mezdrich was initiated after an appeal to the prosecutor's office of the Metropolitan of Novosibirsk and Berdsk Tikhon, who saw in the production a violation of the rights of believers and the use of church symbols “for other purposes.”

The case was dismissed “for lack of an offense.”

The prosecutor's office will make a decision to appeal after studying the reasoning part of the court's decision.

Let us remember that famous cultural figures spoke out in support of the production.

On March 13, 2015, it became known that the Novosibirsk prosecutor's office intends to appeal the court's decision. Sources

• The court terminated the proceedings in the Tannhäuser case in Novosibirsk // Interfax. 2015. March 10.