The trial caused controversy in society.

The church community was not unanimous about the sentence, but did not doubt the fact that the defendants are guilty.

“It was not the Church that initiated this prosecution, but people who were offended. The investigation proved that the art pieces at this exhibit were offensive towards believers and incited religious hatred to an extent,” says Father Georgy Roshin.

 Artists and humans rights activists – as well as the directors of the Tretyakov Gallery and the State Center of Modern Art – were protesting against the trial, saying the trial is not about art, rather about politics, censorship and a curb on the freedom of expression.

“I think that neither artists, nor curators, nor art in general should be punished under criminal law. Often people see in pictures something that the artist did not have in mind at all. Time also matters, and the next generation will not understand at all what the conflict was about,” said director general of the Tretyakov Gallery Irina Lebedeva in her interview to news agency Interfax. She pointed out that she herself had professional disputes with Erofeev, but noted that a creative person cannot be strictly controlled.

“I think that this trial was premeditated. It was staged, and those believers who took part in it in fact never saw these pieces of art before,” says Aleksandr, an artist and a protestor. “Most likely it is an attempt to apply censorship to art and to once again create a tense and hostile environment in the social and cultural sphere. Art is a field where things are allowed. Experiments are going on in museums, in restricted areas. It doesn’t harm the public. If anyone disagrees, they are free not to watch, or give a verbal or any other kind of response,” he added.

On Monday the court room was not the only scene of events. According to media reports, those protesting against the trial brought a shoebox full of giant cockroaches and let them creep into the building while opponents of controversial exhibition were chanting religious songs outside the court.

However, journalist and writer Dmitry Bykov says the fine handed down to the organizers is fair.

“I’m quite sure that this decision is really modest and really honest, because it could be much worse – the orthodox fundamentalists are really very dangerous. They insisted on real punishment connected with imprisonment,” he emphasized.