In Tatarstan, a priest banned from serving was fined under Art. 20.3 Code of Administrative Offenses

A priest from the “non-rememberers” posted a picture on social networks with a photograph of Goebbels and a statement about Bandera.

In November it became known that on September 26, 2023, the Nurlatsky District Court of the Republic of Tatarstan fined two thousand rubles under Part 1 of Art. 20.3 Code of Administrative Offenses (public display of Nazi symbols) by Eduard Tomilov (Priest Roman).

The reason was the fact that a photograph of Joseph Goebbels wearing an armband with a swastika was found on Tomilov’s VKontakte page in the “All photos” section. Judging by Tomilov’s explanations, we are talking about an image in which Goebbels’ photo is accompanied by a quote attributed to him that “Bandera’s men are insane maniacs or, in other words, brutalized cattle,” and the Nazis needed them only to destroy the “disobedient Slavs,” after which they themselves were subject to extermination, “since animals have no place among people.”

We believe that persecution under Art. 20.3 of the Code of Administrative Offenses is deserved by those who use Nazi symbols to promote Nazism. The image published by Tomilov, in our opinion, did not promote Nazism - on the contrary, depending on the context, it could be understood as a critical statement about collaborators during the Second World War or about modern Ukrainian nationalists.

Tomilov was the rector of the Church of the Holy Apostles Peter and Paul in the village of Starye Chelny. In 2017, he was banned from the priesthood by decree of Bishop Parmen of Chistopol and Nizhnekamsk for violating the canons of the church and schismatic activities. Tomilov is one of the “non-commemorators” (Orthodox Christians who do not commemorate Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Rus' at the liturgy). In 2018 and 2019, the Nurlat City Prosecutor's Office issued two warnings to Tomilov about the inadmissibility of carrying out extremist activities.

Sources

• Rufina Kalimullina. Tatarstan priest put on trial for swastika // 116.ru. 2023. November 25.
• Card of the case of administrative offense No. 5-64/2023 // Nurlatsky City Court of the Republic of Tatarstan. 2023. October 19.
• Valeria Egorova. In Tatarstan, a schismatic priest violated self-isolation and presented a fake certificate // MK - Kazan. 2020. May 2.
• Valery Beresnev, Maxim Kirilov. Chistopol schism: why did six village priests curse Patriarch Kirill? // BUSINESS Online. 2017. July 5.