Way back in 2017, Behemoth frontman Adam "Nergal" Darski, band merch designer Rafal Wechterowicz, and Behemoth webmaster Maciej G. were charged by the Polish government for insulting the Polish coat of arms on a band t-shirt. The case has since been struck down twice, with a third now surfacing this week.
Darski revealed the victory on Instagram, partially crediting his Ordo Blasfemia organization which raised funds to help fight the lawsuit.
"ANOTHER VICTORY FOR ORDO BLASFEMIA!" wrote Darski. "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 After 8 years of NONSENSE, The Regional Prosecutor's Office of Gdansk has withdrawn its prosecution/persecution of Behemoth for allegedly insulting the Polish emblem.
"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.
"Once again, THANK YOU for your undying support! Hail Satan. Hail Freedom."
The Polish government has also issued their ruling on their website, which has since been obtained and translated by The PRP. Long story short, the ruling on July 26 states that Behemoth did not use the Polish coat of arms and therefor cannot be sued for it.
"Article 28, section 1 of the Constitution of the Republic of Poland states that the emblem of the Republic of Poland is the image of a white eagle with a crown in a red field . The above provision is further specified in the Act of 31 January 1980 in Article 2, section 1, where it is stated that the emblem of the Republic of Poland is 'the image of a white eagle with a golden crown on its head turned to the right, with spread wings, a golden beak and talons, placed in a red field of the shield'. Referring the above, very precise definition of the emblem to the disputed graphic, the Prosecutor found that the disputed graphic is an artistic creation, but is not the emblem of the Republic of Poland.
"Thus, in this case, there is no subject matter that could be affected by the accused's alleged causative act. In other words, the accused could not have insulted the coat of arms of the Republic of Poland, because the graphic in question was not the coat of arms. It should also be emphasized that the analysis of the creative process of the disputed artistic installation has shown beyond any doubt that the discussed product was not created as a result of transforming the coat of arms of the Republic of Poland, and at most refers to the coat of arms."
