'Blasphemous' book in dock

A court in Athens is due to decide whether to ban a best-selling book, which contains passages about the possible sexual longings of Jesus Christ.

Mimis Androulakis: Fighting ban

Many bishops of the Greek Orthodox Church have denounced M to the Power of N by former communist member of parliament, Mimis Androulakis, as blasphemous.

It was banned in northern Greece in March and the Athens court will decide whether it should be banned throughout the country.

The judge who imposed the original ban said she feared violence from religious fundamentalists after they threatened to take action against the author and shops selling the book.

I cannot understand all the fuss

Mimis Androulakis

The court in Athens heard arguments for and against the ban on Tuesday. A court official said that the decision on a temporary ban would come in three or four days, with a decision on a permanent ban to follow soon after.

A group of about 100 protesters, including monks, priests and nuns, gathered outside the court to protest against the sale of the novel, holding icons and prayer beads and shouting religious slogans through loudspeakers.

Sexual desires

The book seeks to explore the theme of misogyny. Its opponents have taken particular exception to passages that allude to Jesus' simmering sexual desires.

This book is the most rotten thing that has been written in 2000 years of Christendom

Giorgos Markoulatos

One chapter mentions a possible sexual element in the relationship between Jesus Christ and Mary Magdalene, a prostitute who became a follower.

Giorgos Markoulatos who heads the Greek Orthodox Salvation Movement said: "This book publicly insults God, Jesus Christ and St Paul. It is vile and obscene... the most rotten thing that has been written in 2,000 years of Christendom."

Free speech

But Mr Androulakis said: "I cannot understand all the fuss. We are not a theocratic regime, we are a European country."

Nearly all political parties, literary societies and scholars have backed the author.

Development Minister Evangelos Venizelos, a leading professor of constitutional law, also questioned the court's jurisdiction to ban the book.

With one exception, publishers say they cannot recall any book being banned in Greece since the fall of the 1967-74 military dictatorship.

Two years ago, a court banned a dictionary and ordered the author to remove an insulting reference to residents of Thessaloniki.

But the supreme court overturned the ban, saying that constitutional guarantees on free speech did not allow books to be banned or censored.