Extreme-metal satanists Behemoth’s long legal battle with the Polish government over alleged blasphemy is apparently over, with the band recently proclaiming over social media that the Regional Prosecutor’s Office of Gdansk has officially dropped their case against them.
The Polish government had been up in arms the past few years over a Behemoth T-shirt that tweaked the country’s coat of arms, with the traditional white-crowned eagle flanked by skulls, swords and serpents. Starting in 2017, Behemoth founder Adam Nergal Darski, merch designer Rafal Wechterowicz and the band’s webmaster Maciej G. were accused of blasphemy, and taken to court a few times over the merch item. Multiple cases had been thrown out of court over the years, and now, according to the band, it seems like the government has finally given up for good.
“Thanks to your immense support and donations, we have once again overcome these superstitious bullies! After 8 years of NONSENSE, The Regional Prosecutor’s Office of Gdansk has withdrawn its prosecution/persecution of Behemoth for allegedly insulting the Polish emblem,” the band revealed over Instagram last week.
“We love and honour our beautiful country in Poland and we are disgusted by the claim put forward purely out of Christian spite. With that said, we are very proud to announce the Emblem design will be making its return to the Behemoth Webstore exclusively, once all proceedings have concluded.”
Revolver had spoke with Nergal in 2022, shortly after a third attempt to bring blasphemy charges against Behemoth was thrown out of court.
“My antagonists tried to prove that [the design] was sacrilege of the Polish national emblem. We were found innocent twice already, and this was the third time,” he said at the time. “Of course, they already said they’re going to reapply [for another court case]. How many times do you want to do that: five, 10, 15 times?”
Behemoth are currently out on tour across Europe. You’ll find the dates here.
As of press time, the band’s coat of arms design has not yet been re-added to their webstore, but look out for its return.