People

Russian court fines popular, virus-denying Orthodox monk

On July 20, a Rus­sian court or­dered Father Sergiy, an influential monk who has denied the existence of the new corona­virus and urged his followers to ignore government lockdown orders, to pay a fine for fo­menting enmity through his sermons.

When contagion engulfed Russia, Father Sergiy, whose given name is Nikolai Romanov, declared the coronavirus nonexistent and de­nounced government efforts to stem the pandemic as “Satan’s electronic camp.” In fiery sermons laden with anti-Semitic statements and vitriol against a supposed Masonic world government, the monk has described the vaccines being developed against COVID-19 as part of a global plot to control the masses via electronic chips.

A court in Verkhnyaya Pyshma in the Ural Mountains region found Father Sergiy guilty of inciting hatred and ruled that he should pay a fine of 18,000 rubles (about $250). The 65-year-old monk didn’t attend Monday’s court hearing.