@holyangel71: Russia’s Supreme Court has designated the so-called “International Satanist Movement” an extremist organization, making organizing activity under its banner punishable by up to eight years in prison, part of a widening crackdown that has already produced dozens of prosecutions over symbols as common as a pentagram. The court issued its ruling in July 2025 after the Prosecutor General’s Office and the Justice Ministry filed suit following an initiative from Patriarch Kirill, the head of the Russian Orthodox Church. Under the designation, distributing leaflets or helping organize events tied to the movement can carry up to six years in prison, while recruiting others carries up to eight. Separately, displaying banned symbols is treated first as a misdemeanor, with a repeat offense escalating to a felony punishable by up to four years. Enforcement has moved quickly. According to a tally by Novaya Gazeta Europe, at least 66 administrative cases had been opened against Russian citizens for displaying “satanic” symbols as of May 2026, more than 50 of them stemming from social media posts. In April 2026, a court in Voronezh handed down the first known criminal conviction tied to the ban, sentencing a 24-year-old resident to one year of corrective labor after he posted a selfie wearing a pentagram-emblazoned hoodie alongside a photograph of Adolf Hitler. Courts have identified pentagram imagery in 45 of the 66 cases, depictions of the occult figure Baphomet in 27, and inverted crosses in eight, the outlet reported. Russian human rights lawyer Ivan Pavlov has questioned how far enforcement could reach, asking, “Will they put people in jail for T-shirts with pentagrams and goat heads? We won’t risk saying for sure, but the practice of cases involving other fictitious ‘extremists’ tells us a lot.” Critics note the International Satanist Movement has no known members or formal structure, and argue the designation fits a broader pattern in which Russia has applied extremism laws to groups including the Jehovah’s Witnesses and the “International LGBT Movement” to suppress dissent and unconventional beliefs.

Yahweh Divine Daughter

Open In TikTok:

Region: US

Monday 12 October 2026 13:57:44 GMT