In Moscow, the owner of the shop ‘Vedmin put’ (Witch’s Way) has been fined under the public desecration of religious symbols (part 2 of Article 5.26 of the Code of Administrative Offences). This was reported by the Telegram channel for Moscow’s courts of general jurisdiction.
“According to the administrative offence report, ‘Vedmin put’ sells products that offend the feelings of Orthodox Christian believers, namely candles in the form of distorted icons, with depictions of saints, upside-down eight-pointed crosses, and other similar goods,” says the statement.
The justice of the peace for Court District No. 374 of the Tagansky District fined self-employed business owner Anna Avdeeva 100,000 rubles (approximately US$1,100).
Previously, activists from the Orthodox movement ‘Sorok Sorokov’ reported the shop to the authorities. In February, they visited the shop and called the police. The pro-government Telegram channel SHOT claimed at the time that candles shaped like ripped-out hearts and sexual organs, figurines of devils and demons, as well as books published by Ukrainian publishers were being sold there. “All of them were devoted to black magic, the occult and similar topics,” the channel wrote. In the published video, SHOT only showed one book, printed in Kharkiv in 2020—it was about folk superstitions near the church.
Orthodox activists have said they will push for the shop to be closed, and for its owner to be held liable under the law on offence against believers’ feelings.
After this raid, Avdeeva said that the activists behaved rudely, intimidated an employee, broke a camera, and entered the storeroom. The shop’s CCTV camera recorded conversations between the activists and an employee. One activist, dressed in camouflage, said he needed to be sent to war: “You need to go to the trenches for six months and you’ll become a real man. We’ll sort it out for you through the military recruitment office.”
“We have the right to sell goods not banned by law. We have the right to practise esoteric rituals if they are legal. The right to sell items for these practices. The activists’ actions amount to vigilante justice and violate the rights of shop staff <…> Actions aimed at suppressing the religious beliefs of others must be condemned and stopped,” the shop stated after the raid.
‘Vedmin put’ is located in the Tagansky District of Moscow. “It’s a magical shop in the centre of Moscow, with a wide range of handcrafted ritual candles and unique magical goods,” the description on Avdeeva’s website read before the court decision. Now, there is no mention of the shop on her website.
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Illustration: solvejg_art for OVD-Info