The municipal government in Volgograd has decided to close down a local newspaper for printing a cartoon showing Jesus, Buddha, Mohammed, and Moses watching a crowd of clashing people while saying, “We never taught them to do that…” The mayor of the city is quoted as saying that the paper was shut down in order to prevent inter-religious strife; meanwhile, the prosecutor-general is looking to file charges.

Jim Hoft wonders if Russia is just being PC or crushing dissent. I’d say both. But more than anything it is being opportunist. Volgograd is in the south-west of the country, has a sizeable Muslim population, and is near the large Muslim population center in the war-torn North Caucasus region. The government is trying to appease the radical leaders and prevent any unrest within the population — even though, so far, there has been none whatsoever. The cartoon isn’t exactly provocative.

Perhaps it should come as no surprise that the local officials who shut down the paper are associated with President Putin’s United Russia party. When taking that information into account, it can be said that this is part of a strategy to appeal to the world Muslim population at large. The political costs of shutting down a single local newspaper are minimal to nonexistent, but the media exposure it gets its huge. It made it from Volgograd to America, didn’t it? Then it also made it to the Middle East, where Russia will score lots of points with Muslim populations.

Call it an anti-democratic publicity stunt of sorts, with Putin as the benefactor at the expense of the free press.