Russian writer denounces porn claims

Sorokin: 'Humiliating to me and Russian literature'

A Russian writer hauled in by police on Monday over a novel that depicts sexual contact between Soviet leaders Josef Stalin and Nikita Khrushchev said he had refused to answer questions, calling the case a ''theatre of the absurd''.

Vladimir Sorokin was questioned after prosecutors deemed parts of his 1999 novel Goluboye Salo, or Blue Bacon Fat, pornographic.

Prosecution staff should not be the ones to read literary texts, but editors

Sergei Mitrokhin of liberal party Yabloko

Mr Sorokin said outside Moscow's central police department: ''I refused to give evidence because I consider this matter absurd, vicious and humiliating to me as a writer and humiliating to Russian literature as a whole.''

The case against Mr Sorokin was initiated by the pro-Kremlin youth group, Moving Together, whose mostly teenage supporters wear T-shirts bearing the image of President Vladimir Putin.

They claim Mr Sorokin has polluted Russian literature.

Dedication requests

Mr Sorokin rejects the allegations of pornography, saying his novel is about the death of Russian literature, and defends his use of obscene words.

Supporters of Yabloko rally in support of Mr Sorokin

He said that before the questioning, "a group of investigators asked me to autograph and dedicate my book for them".

The investigation has alarmed advocates of freedom of expression, who fear a return to Soviet-style censorship.

The liberal Yabloko party and representatives of the world writers' group International PEN held a protest on Monday outside the Moscow prosecutor's office to demand an end to the criminal case.

"Prosecution staff should not be the ones to read literary texts, but editors," Yabloko deputy head Sergei Mitrokhin said.

Click here for a historical overview on Stalin

Culture Minister Mikhail Schvydkoi has described the potential prosecution as a "dangerous precedent".

A prosecution of Mr Sorokin would be the first involving a Russian writer since dissident authors Andrei Sinyavsky and Yuli Daniel were tried by Soviet courts in the 1960s.

Mr Sorokin could face two years in jail, but in the meantime sales of his works have rocketed, his publisher said.