For the second time in two weeks a Russian adult cartoon channel has come under fire for airing cartoons, including "South Park," that allegedly promote homosexuality, violence and religious intolerance.
Christian and Muslim religious groups have urged the closure of Moscow-based 2X2.
Protests were led by a Protestant church umbrella group, the Consultative Council of the Heads of the Protestant Churches in Russia, urging the country's top prosecutor Yury Chaika to intervene.
That was quickly followed by similar angry comments from Umar-Khazrat Idrisov, the head of a regional Muslim association in Nizhny Novgorod, who called on all Russian Muslims to support their "fellow citizen-Protestants" and urge state television watchdog the Federal Culture and Cinematography Agency to strip 2X2 of its license. "Destructive energy" should not be aired on TV, the Islamic leader said.
Russia's major religion, the Orthodox Church has yet to comment.
Father Kiprian Yashchenko, who heads a moral education project that boasts Svetlana Medvedeva, wife of President elect Dmitry Medvedev as chair of its board, told Daily Variety that he was unaware of the criticism leveled at the channel by other religions.
Earlier this month 2X2 pulled American-made cartoons "Happy Tree Friends" and "The Adventures of Big Jeff" from its schedules after an official complaint from government watchdog, Rossvyazokhrankulutra, that the cartoons were too cruel and violent.
But this week the ProfMedia owned channel, which has around 2% audience share, brushed off the new criticism saying its target audience was men aged 16-30, not children.
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