Satanic panic in Russia

In Russia, it looks like we now have a combination of (1) what MIGHT be a actual small but abusive, authoritarian group which may have pressured its female members into having sex with the leader, in the name of Satanism, and (2) general panic about Satanism, with claims that Satanism poses more of a public threat than Islamic supremacist terrorists. Here are the current Russian headlines:

• Satanic rapists on trial, RT, February 5, 2010


• Russian Satanic cult foiled in attempt to infiltrate police, RiaNovosti, February 5, 2010

Both these stories are about a group called the Nobilis Ordo Diaboli, based in Saransk. Its founding members were 24-year-old Belarus national Alexander Kazakov and 23-year-old local Denis Danishin.

As for the "Satanic rapists": The RT story says, at the very end: "When police cracked down on the cult in 2009, they seized numerous books about Satanism and occult paraphernalia like animal sculls [sic]. The defendants claim that their sect was a mere role-playing club, and everything the members did was done voluntarily. They also deny charges of sexual abuse and violence." I have to wonder whether the women in the group were pressured, by the cops, into making false accusations against the leaders, as a way of getting themselves off the hook for whatever they might have been charged with. Anyhow, the trial is still ongoing, so it's premature to judge whether their leaders are guilty or innocent of the crimes they are accused of.

As for "infiltrating the police," if indeed that's true, I would say that religiously diverse police departments are a necessity in order to avoid religious bigotry in how the laws are enforced. I would be much more worried about theocratic Christians who "infiltrate the police" in far greater numbers than any small religious sect possibly could, for the purpose of using the police department to harass minority religions.

An earlier, related news story is Satanic cult leader arrested in central Russia, RiaNovosti, January 28, 2009.

Religious freedom in general does not seem to be one of Russia's strong suits. See the article Russian Supreme Court bans regional Jehovah's Witnesses branch, RiaNovosti, .

Roundup of recent international "Satanism" scare news

Searching Google news for stories about "Satanism," I find the following:

• Crimes against Religious Leaders in Russia Likely to Trigger Witch Hunt by Paul Goble, Georgian Daily, May 27, 2009, about the concern that recent violence against mainstream religious leaders may trigger witchhunts against people of nonmainstream religions.


• A bunch of stories from two days ago (May 25, 2009) about the arrest of 104 alleged "Devil worshippers" in Iran. Here's the Reutors story, containing the most detailed account I've found so far. The New York Times carried an abbreviated version. AFP carried the story today (May 27), as did Sky News. As we will see in the next batch of stories, below, there is reason to doubt the claim that the people arrested are in fact "Satan worshippers."


• Some stories about prohibitions on heavy metal music concerts in the Middle East. There is currently such a ban in Jordan, according to the Global Post story Rock and a hard place by Tom A. Peter, May 25, 2009. On the other hand, the ban has been lifted in Morocco, according to the Global Voices story Morocco: When Arabs Rock by Hisham, May 24th, 2009, and The National (UAE) article Morocco’s metalheads make return by John Thorne, May 6, 2009. In both cases, heavy metal is/was banned because of rumors about "Satanist" and other un-Islamic content.


• Some tales of dubious allegations of "Satanism" in South Africa: (1) South Africa: Drugs and Satanism Surrounds Child's Death Lavern De Vries, allAfrica.com, April 22, 2009, about a legal wrangle between the dead child's natural mother and foster parents, and (2) Satanist takes blame for deaths, News 24, May 13, 2009, about the "confession" of an obviously mentally ill 15-year-old girl. Hopefully it will be obvious to most people that the allegations here are unlikely to be true. South Africa has been going through quite a Satanic panic lately, according to various news stories linked in the blog entry Satanic Panic in South Africa, posted on September 29, 2008 by Richard Bartholomew.