Art Verdict Upheld

Oct. 4, 2010

The Moscow City Court upheld on Monday a lower court’s ruling that declared two prominent art curators guilty of inciting religious hatred by organizing an exhibition, Interfax reported.

Andrei Yerofeyev and Yury Samodurov were convicted of extremism and fined 150,000 rubles ($6,500) and 150,000 rubles ($4,900), respectively, for the 2007 exhibit called “Forbidden Art,” which included a painting depicting Jesus as Mickey Mouse.

Yerofeyev and Samodurov’s lawyer confirmed Monday that they would appeal to the European Court of Human Rights, Interfax reported.

Representatives of the radical Orthodox Christian group Narodny Sobor, which initiated the case against the curators, said they would now seek the destruction of artwork ruled as offensive in the case.

(MT)

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