The prosecutor's office asks to recognize the content of the cartoon series "South Park" as extremist

The interdistrict prosecutor's office sent a statement to the Basmanny District Court of Moscow recognizing the content of the South Park cartoon series as extremist, Interfax reports. This was done on the basis of the federal law “On Combating Extremist Activities.”

The prosecutor's office issued a warning to CJSC TV Channel 2x2 about the inadmissibility of distributing extremist materials and carrying out extremist activities.

Let us recall that the leaders of various religious organizations in Russia insist ondepriving the channel of its license.

In early September, the channel's management refused to change its programming policy and take South Park off the air.

The Basmanny interdistrict prosecutor's office checked the cartoon series, which was broadcast in early January. According to the conclusion of a study by an expert from the Moscow Forensic Science Center, “the presented video materials contain signs aimed at extremist activity.”

According to the department, “the cartoon may cause a negative reaction among the overwhelming number of viewers, as it demeans the honor and dignity of Christians and Muslims, offends the feelings of believers regardless of religion, can provoke an interethnic conflict, which does not exclude extremist actions, and contribute to the incitement of interreligious hatred.”

The Russian Prosecutor General's Office proposed to the head of the Federal Service for Supervision of Communications and Mass Communications, which exercises control in the field of television broadcasting, to take measures "to eliminate violations and prevent the abuse of freedom of the mass media by CJSC "TV and Radio Company "2x2" when showing cartoons for children," the official said representative of the Prosecutor General's Office of the Russian Federation Marina Gridneva.

General Director of “2x2” Roman Sarkisov said that he does not agree with the prosecutor’s office’s claims against the TV channel.

“We do not agree with the claims of the prosecutor’s office. In addition, we learn about them from media reports or the website of the Prosecutor General’s Office; we have not received any official documents,” he emphasized.

R. Sarkisov said that the TV channel would challenge in court the warning of the Basmanny prosecutor’s office about the presence of signs of extremism in “South Park”.

On October 9, the Basmanny District Court held the first hearing in the case as part of pre-trial preparation. According to Gazeta , “the prosecutor’s office is asking the court to recognize the episode of the cartoon “South Park” dedicated to the Prophet Muhammad, which aired on January 9, as extremist.”

On November 11, the Basmanny Court of Moscow ordered a linguistic examination of the fourth episode of the tenth season of the animated series South Park. The consideration of the case has been suspended until the results of the examination are received.

Sources

• The prosecutor's office issued a warning to the 2x2 TV channel about the inadmissibility of distributing extremist materials // Interfax-religion. 2008. September 8.
• Cartoons broadcast on "2x2" promote violence, pornography and antisocial behavior - Prosecutor General's Office // Ibid. 2008. September 8.
• The management of “2x2” does not agree with the claims of the prosecutor’s office and reminds that cartoons are not only for children // Ibid. 2008. September 8.
• Lokotetskaya M. In court they watched a cartoon about the Prophet Muhammad // Newspaper. 2008. October 9.
• The Basmanny court sent the Prophet Muhammad to linguists. They will look for extremism in the episodes of “South Park” // NewsRu.com. 2008. November 11.