Russians fined for Forbidden Art Show - 13/07/2010

Andrei Yerofeyev and Yuri Samodurov organised the Forbidden Art exhibition in 2007 at the Sakharov Museum in Moscow.

The art curators were fined today for inciting religious hatred. The artistic community feels that this is an infringement on freedom of speech but the Russian Orthodox Church wanted a jail term.

Mr Yerofeyev, an art expert, was fined £3,200 and Mr Samodurov, former director of the museum, was fined £4,300.

Some of the images that were dubbed controversial included an image of Jesus at his crucifixion and his head was replaced by the Order of Lenin medal.

The Council of the People filed the complaint against the curators.

A representative of the organisation, Oleg Kassin, told the AFP news agency: "From the moment that such an exhibition takes place in a public space, and especially if it contains insults, it's no longer art but a provocation."

Last week 13 Russian artists published an open letter to president Dimitry Medvedev asking him to stop the trial.

Posted by Harry Baxter