Fines

Activists from the feminist movement FEMEN, who conducted a stunt in Notre Dame de Paris in February 2013, may be sentenced to prison terms and be given large fines.

According to the official response I have received from the French Foreign Ministry, they are facing up to one year in prison and a 10,000 euro fine for insulting believers' feelings, Yaroslav Nilov, the head of the State Duma committee on public associations and religious organizations, said on Russia's Spas television.

Nilov said the feminists are facing up to ten years in prison and a fine in an amount of up to 200,000 euros for the damage they have inflicted to the Notre Dame property.

Notre Dame

Eight nubile women went topless through Notre Dame to celebrate the legalisation of gay marriage in France. The women are a part of FEMEN, a pro-feminist, pro-gay organisation whose motto is Sextremism. FEMEN held the demonstration to mark the final hour of the homophobic Pope, who they labelled as fascist and the head of the Catholic mafia. After the women disrobed and rang bells housed within the church, security quickly forced them out of the cathedral. They continued their impassioned demonstration just outside.

FEMEN members have a penchant for running about topless when some issue has upset them. While such an approach to conflict could do much to settle miscommunications between the sexes, the context must clearly be suitable. In this case, the majority of people within the cathedral found the display inappropriate and rude.