Russian man faces possible year in jail after denying the existence of God online

• Viktor Krasnov was charged in response to an online exchange in which he described the Bible as a “collection of Jewish fairy tales” and said “there is no God.”
• Following the jailing of punk rock group Pussy Riots in 2012, lawmakers passed legislation that criminalized “insult[ing] the religious convictions or feelings of citizens.”
• Despite Russia’s constitutional status as a secular state, President Vladimir Putin has led a campaign to promote traditional religious values to consolidate Russian national identity, long tied to the Russian Orthodox Church prior to the rise of the Soviet Union.

Read more:
“Russian Man Could Be Jailed For Saying God Doesn’t Exist” (Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty)
“Russian Faces Up to Year in Prison for Denying Existence of God” (NBC News)
“Russian man in court for ‘no God’ Internet exchange” (AFP, via GlobalPost)

(Image Credit: via Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty)