13 May 2004 04:35
Human rights group says court case marks return of censorship in Russia
[Presenter] Court proceedings were begun today against the organizers of the "Ostorozhno, religiya!" [Watch
out, religion!] exhibition at the Andrey Sakharov centre. The prosecutor's office decided that the exhibition
incited religious hatred and insulted the feelings of believers. The museum's management talks about the return of
censorship. There were more human rights workers gathered in the Sakharov centre today than journalists, which is
unusual for the present era.
[Correspondent Sergey Kochetkov] The reason for the gathering was more than significant. For the first time in the
new Russia three artists and the management of a respected museum will stand trial in court. In the dock they will
replace Orthodox believers who vandalized the "Ostorozhno, religiya!" exhibition in the Sakharov museum last
winter.
The Zamoskvoretskiy court then acquitted the vandals and now the prosecutor's office has gone even further.
Investigators believe that the exhibition insulted the feelings of believers and incited religious hatred.
[Yuriy Samodurov, director of Sakharov centre] Personally, I think that agreeing with this allegation would make
impossible or, well, would ban a significant part of modern art.
[Correspondent] These pictures demonstrate that the exhibition genuinely did offend Orthodox believers. Hundreds of
people came to the Zamoskvoretskiy court to pray for the release of the vandals, Mikhail Lyukshin and Anatoliy Zyakin.
The press and the Moscow Patriarchy also voiced strong criticism of the exhibition.
When making Christ the face of a Coca Cola advertisement, the museum's management clearly didn't expect
such a wide public resonance. The artists' challenge grew into a court battle.
State Duma deputies also spoke out in support of the Church. It was they who sent a request to the prosecutor's
office to investigate the scandalous exhibition. After the vandals were acquitted, few people were in any doubt what the
result of that investigation would be.
[Lyudmila Alekseyeva, chairwoman of Moscow Helsinki Group] This court case, this absurd and highly shameful court
case launched against the organizers of the exhibition is a demand for a return to censorship.
[Correspondent] The Moscow Patriarchy now has almost unlimited support from the Kremlin and the State Duma. The
artists and the management of the Sakharov centre are putting their trust in the law.
However the court case against the Andrey Sakharov museum ends, it has already dealt a serious blow to Russia's
image. The last edition of the influential US journal Newsweek wrote that the battle between the authorities and free
art had turned into all-out war in Russia.
[Video shows Samodurov and Alekseyeva speaking at press conference, exhibits, archive footage of people praying
outside court]
[Ren TV] |
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