A St. Petersburg court on Tuesday announced that it had jailed a man for 12 days for carrying symbols associated with an “extremist organization.”
Artyom Repin was arrested on Saturday for carrying a goblet with a pentagram and an image of occult figure Baphomet, as well as a book with the title “Satanic Rituals” on the cover, the court said. He was on his way to the Necrocomiccon cosplay and pop culture festival.
Repin said in a court hearing that he was detained outside the festival’s entrance while wearing makeup and dressed as a priest.
The Necrocomicon festival of comic book culture, mysticism and fantasy was scheduled to take place on Nov. 1-2, but was canceled after only a few hours when law enforcement authorities opened a criminal case against festival organizer Alexei Samsonov.
Police accused Samsonov, a longtime resident of St. Petersburg and a citizen of Kazakhstan, of presenting a migration card to a police officer which said that his stay in Russia had been extended until May 1, 2026, according to local news outlet Fontanka. However, authorities said the stamp on the card was invalid.
Samsonov was charged with violating migration laws, fined and the court ordered that he be taken to a detention center for subsequent deportation until Jan. 29, 2026. His current status is unclear.
Russia outlawed the so-called “International Satanist Movement” as an “extremist” organization in July.
Lawmakers in April called it a “misanthropic ideology based on the justification of evil” and accused it of seeking to destroy Russia’s traditional religions.
