Russian police have passed to court a criminal case against a man who was reportedly trying to kill Patriarch Kirill – the head of the Russian Orthodox Church – with a collective mental attack by a group of followers.
The 42-year old man, who already possesses an extensive criminal record, has been charged with instigating hatred or hostility, as well as humiliation of human dignity, Gazeta.ru internet newspaper reported on Friday, quoting a source in the Nizhny Novgorod territorial directorate of the Russian Interior Ministry.
The move came in March this year after a local resident addressed the police with a complaint that someone was posting calls to murder the head of the Russian Church on the social network website Vkontakte.ru (Russia’s popular clone of Facebook). Police checked the report and quickly found the suspect – the 42-year old former pediatrician who had served a prison term for bribery and who devoted himself to the occult sciences after getting out of prison.
The calls that the man posted on the social network were only instructions to kill the Patriarch with mental force. During a police interrogation, the suspect called himself the leader of the Pluto occult group. He said that his group had regularly gathered in an apartment and together wished Patriarch Kirill harm. Sometimes they also watched television together, seeking proof that their efforts had yielded results.
The man pleaded guilty to all charges and is currently awaiting trial under travel ban. The date of the court hearing has not yet been set.