Catholic World News News Feature
Orthodox zealots acquitted for damaging Moscow art exhibit August 12, 2003
Two Russian Orthodox believers who vandalized an exhibition of what they considered to be "sacriligous" art have had the charges against them dropped.
A Moscow court ruled that there was no evidence of criminal hooliganism against them.
The ruling was greeted with joy by the hundreds of Orthodox faithful who were singing hymns outside the courthouse. But it will raise a number of questions for human-rights activists and campaigners for freedom of expression.
The exhibition, staged last January, was entitled: "Caution: Religion." It consisted of a mix of religious and anti-religious symbols, including the Communist hammer-and-sickle and the Nazi swastika. There were even facilities in which visitors dress up and be photographed in the guise of apostles.
This last feature outraged Orthodox sensibilities, and triggered their attack. Exhibits were smeared with paint, display stands torn down, and graffiti scribbled on the walls. Six people apparently took part in the attack; however, the prosecutors office early on decided there was insufficient evidence against four of them. The case against the other two, Mikhail Lyukshin and Anatoliy Zyakin culminated this week in a verdict of Not Guilty. However, the court's verdict is unlikely to be the end of the story. The defendants and their supporters are now seeking criminal proceedings against the organizers of the exhibition on charges of inciting religious enmity.
Ironically, the exhibition was held in a venue named after a man whose name has become symbolic of respect for human rights- the Andrei Sakharov Museum.
