According to Russian President Vladimir Putin, disrespecting the Holy Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) does not qualify as an “expression of artistic freedom.”
At his annual news conference on Thursday, he declared that blasphemy against Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) is a “violation of religious freedom and of the holy sensibilities of people who profess Islam.”
According to Russia’s TASS news agency, Putin claimed that such acts result in radical retaliation, using the attack on the editorial office of Charlie Hebdo magazine in Paris as an example, after it published blasphemous caricatures of the Holy Prophet (PBUH).
Putin also chastised the sharing of Nazi photographs on websites dedicated to Russians who died in World War II, such as the Immortal Regiment.
