Winnie the Pooh: Russian ‘extremist,’ too?
| August 24, 2009 | 6:01 AM
More journal entries from John Moore »
Before beginning a Hunt, it is wise to ask someone what you are looking for before you begin looking for it.
– Winnie the Pooh
Oh, bother!
Russia’s “extremism” list now bears an unlikely addition — Winnie the Pooh.
Actually images of Pooh with a swastika are the real concern. The Justice Ministry in Moscow has added those to its list of banned “extremist” material after an incident in Ufa, Russia. Officials raided the home of an extremist and found representations of the lovable bear adorned with the hated Nazi symbol.
The Ufa resident was sentenced on extremism charges in 2006. So this isn’t exactly a hair-Tiggered response.
Now anyone can be punished for depicting a Nazi Pooh. And there’s a bigger bear in the woods whose image is being protected, too — Prime Minister Vladimir Putin.
Russian law enforcement officials use the extremism list in searchers and criminal cases. And perhaps now to find the Heffalump.
Apparently Russia doesn’t mind looking like a Silly Old Bear.
Read more at The Moscow Times.
extremist, Nazi, russia, swastika, winnie the pooh
