The New Russian Censorship

In Russia “a group of artists is being charged with ‘inciting religious hatred’ for lampooning religious ideology in a controversial exhibit. For the defendants, who face up to five years in prison if convicted, official reaction to the ‘Caution: Religion’ show, held at Moscow’s Andrei Sakharov Museum last year, suggests the return of Soviet-style control – where dissent is quashed and policemen stand in for art critics. In place of the former Communist Party, they say, the Russian Orthodox Church is fast becoming the Kremlin’s chief guardian of ideological purity.”