A controversial Moscow photography exhibition that critics say amounts to "child pornography" has been closed down following a protest by conservative activists.
Anton Tsvetkov, a member of Russia's Public Chamber and the leader of the Officers of Russia organization, said on September 25 that organizers of the exhibition agreed to close it down after activists blocked the exhibition hall earlier in the day.
The exhibition at the Lumiere Brothers Photography center opened on September 8 and featured photographs by controversial U.S. photographer Jock Sturges. The exhibition included images of partially clad adolescents.
Sturges has been extremely controversial in the United States, and in 1990 his studio was raided by the FBI. A grand jury later declined to indict him in that case.
On September 24, Russian Federation Council member Yelena Mizulina called for the Moscow exhibition to be closed down as a "public demonstration of materials containing child pornography." She has reportedly asked the prosecutor-general to investigate the exhibition and its organizers.
Earlier, Russia's ombudswoman for the rights of children, Anna Kuznetsova, also called for an investigation aimed at closing the exhibition.