15 June 2004 14:45
Picket in support of freedom of conscience held in Russia`s capital
[No dateline, as received] About 20 people are taking part in a picket outside Moscow's Taganskiy court in
support of the organizers of the "Beware: Religion!" exhibition, an Ekho Moskvy radio correspondent has
reported. The picket was organized by the "For human rights" movement.
The court is hearing a criminal case against Yuriy Samodurov, the director of the Andrey Sakharov museum and public
centre, an employee of the museum, Lyudmila Vasilovskaya, and artist Anna Mikhalchuk who are charged with stirring up
religious enmity. The charges were brought over content of the exhibition "Beware: Religion!" that opened at
the museum on 14 January 2003 and was vandalized [by offended believers] on its fourth day.
The participants of the picket are comparing the trial to the Inquisition, they are standing up for freedom of
conscience and against state clerical censorship.
The demonstrators are carrying placards saying, "We are with you, Giordano Bruno, Lev Tolstoy, Yuriy
Samodurov!", "Midday, 21st century, Inquisition" and "Stop the Orthodox Taleban!", the
correspondent reports. The demonstrators are wearing yellow robes and hoods, similar to ones that Inquisitors used to
put on heretics.
[Ekho Moskvy news agency] |
RUSSIA IN FACTS
