Russian Prosecutors Say "South Park" Incites Religious Hatred

In 2006, Russia passed a law expanding the definition of extremism to include "inciting religious and national hatred." According to Reuters today, prosecutors in Moscow's region of Basmanny have filed a motion in court against the television station 2x2 seeking to ban the U.S. show South Park. Prosecutors' action came after the Russian Union of Christians of Evangelical Faith (RUCEF) filed a complaint against an episode of the program titled Mr. Hankey's Christmas Classics. The episode was broadcast in Moscow in January, dubbed into Russian. Prosecutors say the episode "bore signs of extremist activity." RUCEF says that South Park is just one of many cartoons that need to be banned because they insult religious believers and incite religious and national hatred.