more developments on Sorokin (fwd)

[Vitaly Chernetsky]

Dear colleagues,
FYI.

VC

---------- Forwarded message ----------
Date: Fri, 12 Jul 2002 15:22:04 -0000
From: RFE/RL List Manager <listmanager at list.rferl.org>
Subject: RFE/RL NEWSLINE Vol. 6, No. 129, Part I, 12 July 2002

RADIO FREE EUROPE/RADIO LIBERTY, PRAGUE, CZECH REPUBLIC
___________________________________________________________
RFE/RL NEWSLINE Vol. 6, No. 129, Part I, 12 July 2002

A daily report of developments in Eastern and Southeastern Europe, Russia,
the Caucasus, and Central Asia prepared by the staff of Radio Free
Europe/Radio Liberty.

This is Part I, a compilation of news concerning Russia, Transcaucasus,
and Central Asia. Part II covers Central, Eastern, and Southeastern Europe
and is distributed simultaneously as a second document.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

RUSSIA

[...]

CULTURE MINISTRY SPEAKS OUT AGAINST SOROKIN INVESTIGATION... The criminal
case against avant-garde writer Vladimir Sorokin launched by Moscow
prosecutors on 11 July (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 11 July 2002) received a
great deal of public criticism that day. Prosecutors allege that Sorokin's
novel "Goluboye Salo" ("Blue Lard") is pornographic. According to an
official statement by the Culture Ministry's press office, that ministry
considers the decision to open the case "erroneous, ungrounded, and a
violation of a citizen's constitutional rights," RIA-Novosti reported.
"Russian history shows that criminal cases against writers Andrei
Sinyavskii, Yulii Daniel, and Aleksandr Ginzburg have only discredited the
ideas of personal freedom and freedom of speech," the statement went on to
say, according to ITAR-TASS. MD

...AS WALKING TOGETHER LEADER JUSTIFIES THE ACCUSATIONS... Aleksei Volin,
deputy chief of the government staff, also criticized the action, saying
that it "elicits a mixed feeling of despondency and amazement," according
to Interfax. Sorokin himself denied the allegations and said that his
novel "contained only two sexual scenes and was written about the death of
Russian literature." "Goluboye Salo" was published over three years ago,
but the investigation began only now at the initiative of the pro-Putin
youth movement Walking Together. In an interview with RFE/RL's Moscow
bureau broadcast on 10 July, the leader of movement, Vasilii Yakimenko,
said the group is trying to "transfer Sorokin into the marginal
[category]" and prove that "Sorokin's publications are not books in the
classical meaning of the word." MD

...AND PROSECUTOR FILES CHARGES. Meanwhile, prosecutors completed their
evaluation of the novel on 11 July and determined that it is indeed
pornographic, Reuters and Western news agencies reported. Formal charges
against Sorokin were filed the same day. Moscow prosecutor Mikhail
Avdyukov rejected criticism of the investigation. "In deciding whether or
not to initiate a criminal case, law enforcement agencies cannot be guided
by any one person's aesthetic tastes. We act strictly within the framework
of the Criminal Code and the Criminal Procedure Code," he said in an
interview with Interfax on 11 July. "Let me assure you that this
assessment will not depend on the personal aesthetic preferences of
officials," he said before the assessment was completed. MD/RC

[...]

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