MOSCOW, January 18 (RAPSI) – A court in Russia’s city of Sochi has dropped a case against local resident Viktor Nochevnov, charged with wounding religious feelings by reposting caricatures of Jesus Christ on a social media platform, lawyer Alexander Popkov told RAPSI.

The case was closed because of expired statute of limitations.

In October 2017, a higher court reversed sentence passed on Nochevnov, who was found guilty of wounding religious feelings and fined 50,000 rubles ($830) in August.According to case papers, Nochevnov, 32, has been affected by ideas expressing intolerance to Christianity “due to a lack of established principles for conduct and well-formed critical skills.” As a result, he opposed to universal social norms and values and became aggressive towards believers.”

Nochevnov pleaded not guilty and insisted that he was not intended to insult anybody.

Between October 20, 2014 and August 31, 2015, during several Christian holidays Nochevnov published on his social media page seven caricatures including Jesus Christ hanging from a pull-up bar and dancing in a stadium, or represented as a weightlifter in front of the Olympic rings, Popkov told RAPSI earlier.