MOSCOW: Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Thursday insulting Holy Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) does not count as freedom of expression, reported Russian news agency TASS.
Putin’s views came during his annual press conference, during which he stressed the importance of “artistic freedom without hindrance to religious freedom”.
Insults to the Holy Prophet (PBUH) are a “violation of religious freedom and the violation of the sacred feelings of people who profess Islam,” Putin said.
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TASS, quoting Putin, said that such acts “give rise to extremist reprisals”, an example of which is the attack on the office of Charlie Hebdo magazine in Paris after it published blasphemous cartoons of the Holy Prophet (PBUH).
Putin praised artistic freedom in general but warned that it is one that has its limits and must never infringe on other freedoms.
The Russian president, according to the publication, said his country has “evolved as a multi-ethnic and multi-confessional state”, adding that its people “are used to respecting each other’s traditions”.
