Orthodox activists fined $14 for Manege attacks

A Moscow court has fined two activists from ultra-conservative Orthodox group God’s Will for attacking an exhibition at the Moscow Manege.

Two participants in the attack at the exhibition space on 14 August, named as Pavel Timonin and Lyudmila Yesipenko, were found guilty of “petty hooliganism” and fined 1,000 rubles (US$14), despite art restoration experts estimating that the cost of restoration to the damaged art will exceed one million rubles.

On 14 August, members of God’s Will vandalised sculptures at the Manege exhibition space, damaging several pieces in the Sculptures We Do Not See exhibition. The attack was led by self-proclaimed “missionary” Dmitry “Enteo” Tsorionov, who accuses the exhibition organisers of violating the Russian law that protects the feelings of religious believers and describes the work as “blasphemous”.

“Law enforcement bodies should not charge those who prevented a crime [of offending religious feeling],” said Mr Tsorionov, arguing that the punishment was too harsh.