Behemoth frontman Nergal has filed a libel suit against the head of the All-Polish Committee for Defence against Sects, Ryszard Nowak after being branded a ‘criminal’ in a Polish newspaper article.

Nergal is demanding both a written apology to be printed in the Gazeta Wyborcza newspaper, along with the 3,000 zloty (appox £1,000), which he intends to donate to a Polish animal shelter. Nowak has so far refused to apologise, even it would mean going to prison, stating, “this would give all musicians worshiping Satan the green light to do as they please while performing on stage – to burn crosses, destroy the Bible or just offend Christians.”

Nowak and Behomoth have a bit of history together. Nowak filed an official complaint against the Polish death metalers in 1997 after he apparently took offence at Nergal’s stage act, which includes tearing pages out of The Bible, which he calls ‘the book of lies’, and denouncing the Catholic church ‘the most murderous cult on the planet’. An investigation at the behest of the Gdynia Public Prosecutor’s Office began in February 2008, only to be terminated three months later, but Nowak and Nergal will be facing up again over the new case on March 11, 2008, once Nergal’s lawyer has prepared a response to Nowak’s arguments.