A court in Tyumen, Russia threw out incitement charges against a college professor who spread the Blood Libel—a medieval belief that Jews ritually murder Christian children, according to a report by the Slavic Law and Justice Center.

Svetlana Shestakova gave a series of lectures in 2008 on the topic of “Sectarian Studies” in a course geared toward the preparation of future public school teachers of the “Fundamentals of Orthodox Culture” curriculum at Tyumen State Oil-Gas University.

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During her lectures, she reportedly claimed that Jews ritually murder Christian children and use their blood to bake matzo. She added that: “They use a special method for killing an Orthodox child or a saint, such as when the Tsar’s family was killed… they were bled because a live person needs to be stabbed before he is dead, and while he dies, the blood comes out… That’s why sometimes children go missing, it’s the Jews…”

Her lectures also contained calumnies directed at minority Christians. The court reportedly dropped the charges after she failed to appear in court, citing illness.

The statute of limitations was then allowed to lapse.

(Source: UCSJ)