Moscow City Court upheld on Monday a court ruling that found the organizers of the controversial Forbidden Art-2006 exhibition guilty of inciting national and religious hatred.
The exhibition, held at Moscow's Andrei Sakharov Community Center, displayed artwork that had been barred from Moscow's mainstream museums and galleries. Many of the exhibits featured images of Jesus Christ. In one, he had a Mickey Mouse head and in another his head had been replaced by an Order of Lenin medal.
An inquiry was launched into the exhibition in 2007 after a Christian organization accused the show's curators of defacing religious symbols and fueling national hatred.
Monday's court decision means that Sakharov Center Director Yury Samodurov will have to pay 200,000 rubles (about $6,000) and the ex-head of the Tretyakov Gallery's New Trends Department, Andrei Yerofeyev, 150,000 rubles ($5,000) in fines.
The defendants have denied the accusations and intend to appeal to the European Court of Human Rights.
Oleg Kassin, the co-chair of the Narodny Sobor (People's Assembly) public movement, praised the Moscow City Court's ruling, saying it would "help throw cold water on the organizers of such exhibitions."
As a result of the court action, the number of "blasphemous" exhibitions in Russia has decreased significantly, he said.
MOSCOW, October 4 (RIA Novosti)
