All around the Middle East and Asia, Christian groups are pressing to have government censorship boards ban the showing of the Da Vinci Code, or at least to cut out some of its scenes or limit it audience to adults. The movie is scheduled for worldwide release at the end of this week. The Pittsburgh Tribune-Review reported Sunday that in Egypt, the likelihood of a ban is so great that distributors have decided not to schedule a showing. Bahrain, Israel, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates are the only Middle Eastern countries now scheduled to show the film.
In India (CNN-IBN report) the Information and Broadcasting Ministry has said that the film will not be cleared until it is screened by the Catholic Churches Association of India. In Thailand, according to the Bangkok Post, the censorship committee of the Police Registration Division has agreed to cut out the last ten minutes of the movie. Christian groups say that portion of the film distorts the Bible by claiming that heirs of Jesus are alive today. Malaysia is permitting the movie to be shown. The Philippines gave the film an "adults only" certificate, which prohibits those under 18 from seeing the movie in theaters. (Reuters report.) In Korea, Seoul's Central District Court on Tuesday rejected a petition by the Christian Council of Korea seeking to prevent the film's screening. (Korea Times report.) [Thanks to Geoff Rapp for the lead to some of this information.]
