Court in Moscow finds organizers of "Taboo Art-2006" guilty

The Taganka Court of Moscow has found Andrei Yerofeev and Yuri Samodurov, organizers of the exhibition "Taboo Art-2006", guilty of kindling hatred. Now, the announcement of the verdict continues.

Let us remind you that on June 21 the parties' debate took place. The prosecution represented by Public Prosecutor Alexander Nikiforov demanded three years of imprisonment for the defendants, since, in his opinion, "their actions represented public danger and offended the feelings of Orthodox believers."

"Yuri Samodurov, former director of Andrei Sakharov Museum and Public Centre, and Andrei Yerofeev, ex-head of the division of latest trends of the State Tretiakov Gallery, committed actions directed towards kindling hatred and enmity," the ITAR-TASS quotes the judge.

The verdict runs that the defendants "committed a public insult of Christianity." The judge noted in her comment on one of the exposed works that "combining the images of the Christ and Mickey Mouse was a cynical mockery and insult of Orthodox believers."

Russian news agencies were let into the courtroom only after intervention of Anna Usachova, head of the press service of the Moscow City Court, the "Interfax" reports.