MOSCOW — Two Russian curators who angered the Russian Orthodox Church with an exhibition that included images of Jesus Christ portrayed as Mickey Mouse and Vladimir Lenin were convicted Monday of inciting religious hatred and fined, but not sentenced to prison.
The case of Yuri Samodurov, 58, and Andrei Yerofeyev, 54, has been closely watched by human rights activists. The decision by a Moscow court could sidestep the possibility of an international outcry over imprisoning the two respected art-world figures, but is unlikely to stem concerns about the growing influence of the church and the specter of Soviet-style censorship returning.
"This conviction means our government is following a dangerous path for a so-called democracy," Samodurov said in the courtroom right after the hearing. He said he couldn't pay the fine and would appeal the verdict, which took Judge Svetlana Alexandrova just over two hours to deliver in a packed and sweltering courtroom.
Alexandrova said she took into account the defendants' ages and families in deciding against incarcerating them.
The curators were convicted for their 2007 exhibit entitled "Forbidden Art" at the Sakharov Museum, a human rights center named after celebrated dissident physicist and Nobel peace prize laureate Andrei Sakharov.
...Samodurov, who was the museum's director from its founding in 1996 until he stepped down in 2008, had once been convicted of inciting religious hatred and fined the equivalent of $3,600 for an exhibit in 2003 called "Caution: Religion!"
See here."We could have done something important Max. We could have fought child abuse or Republicans!" --Oona Hart (played by Victoria Foyt), in the 1995 movie "Last Summer in the Hamptons."
