A resident of Krasnodar was accused of insulting the feelings of believers by dancing in a cemetery • Sova • RIMA

A resident of Krasnodar was accused of insulting the feelings of believers by dancing in a cemetery

The case of Sophia Burger under Part 2 of Art. 148 of the Criminal Code was submitted to the court for consideration.

On July 24, 2023, the Leninsky District Court of Krasnodar received a criminal case against local blogger Sophia Burger. She is accused under Part 2 of Art. 148 of the Criminal Code (public actions expressing clear disrespect for society and committed in order to offend the religious feelings of believers, committed in places specially designated for worship).

The reason for the criminal case was a video made on March 21, 2023. In the video, Burger performed a dance against the background of the grave at the All Saints Cemetery, holding a cigarette in her mouth and showing indecent gestures with both hands. Later, a resident of Krasnodar posted a video on a social network. The investigation believes that she, “disregarding the Orthodox faith,” acted with the aim of offending the religious feelings of believers.

We are not familiar with the exact content of the video posted by Burger. However, from our point of view, the vague concept of “insulting the religious feelings of believers”, introduced into Art. 148 of the Criminal Code, does not and cannot have a clear legal meaning. In addition, it is not clear on what grounds the actions of a resident of Krasnodar were qualified under Part 2 of Art. 148 of the Criminal Code: unlike a temple, a cemetery should not be considered a place specially designed for worship. According to the Federal Law "On Burial and Funeral Business", "in public cemeteries, burial can be carried out taking into account religious, military and other customs and traditions."

Sources

In Krasnodar, the prosecutor's office filed a criminal case against a local resident accused of insulting the religious feelings of believers // Prosecutor's Office of the Krasnodar Territory. 2023. July 28.
Criminal case card No. 1-802/2023 // Leninsky District Court of Krasnodar. 2023. July 25.