Moscow Court calls Russian museum exhibit on Orthodox Church 'blasphemous'

(RNS) - A Moscow district court has convicted and fined the director and curator of a Russian museum on charges of inciting religious hatred.

The court ruled March 28 that a 2003 art exhibit, "Caution! Religion," was insulting to the Russian Orthodox Church and "blasphemous," according to U.S. news reports.

The exhibit, vandalized by Russian Orthodox Church members four days after it opened, featured works by about 40 artists, including a sculpture of a church made out of vodka bottles and an icon with the face cut out to allow visitors to insert their heads.

Religious minorities were concerned by the trial, The Associated Press reported, seeing it as another measure against critics of the Russian Orthodox Church.