By IANS/RIA Novosti,
Moscow: The Russian Prosecutor General’s Office has declared the controversial film “Innocence of Muslims” extremist and will seek a court ruling to ban the video in the country, its spokeswoman said Monday.
Before a court ruling, the Prosecutor General’s Office has instructed the federal mass communications watchdog “to take measures to prevent media distribution of the information contained in this film”, she said.
The watchdog has already recommended that Russian internet providers block access to the film, which portrays Muslims and the Prophet Muhammad in a negative light.
Senator Ruslan Gattarov filed a request to the Prosecutor General’s Office earlier Monday asking to prohibit the online demonstration of the film, which has sparked riots across the Muslim world since last week.
“Obviously, the purpose of this film’s promoters is a religious split of the society, which can have far-reaching consequences,” the senator said.
The 14-minute trailer to “Innocence of Muslims” was originally posted on YouTube last June. It attracted little attention until Sep 8, when portions of the trailer were broadcast by a television network in Egypt.
Google, which owns YouTube, has denied a request from the US government to remove the video, saying it does not violate the website’s terms of use.