War of Words

The removal of the exhibit from the European Parliament was "monstrous" Helga Trupel, a German member of the European Parliament told German news agency dpa. The ongoing fighting in Chechnya cannot be discussed without referring to its brutality, said Trupel, who is a member of the Greens.

The photos were taken down on Tuesday, Oct. 2. The photographs, some of which showed wounded Chechens, mass graves and other atrocities from Russia's war in Chechnya were deemed controversial and were removed.

"The pictures shown were of a really horrific nature," an EU Parliament spokesman said earlier this week.

Organizers say removal was censorship

Conservative former Lithuanian president, Vytautas Landsbergis and right-wing Polish deputy, Konrad Szymanski were the drivinng forces behind the photo exhibition, "Chechnya: the Final Solution."

The two had compiled photos that document the suffering in the war-torn breakaway republic. Their goal was to raise questions about Russia's human rights record ahead of a summit between the European Union and Russia scheduled for later in October.

The exhibit opened briefly before being shut down by Quaestors, members of parliament in charge of overseeing internal regulations. The Quaestors had deemed the pictures too graphic and disturbing.

Szymanski and Landsbergis responded with outrage, calling the move "a dishonorable example of lawlessness and censorship" which "brings shame and moral injustice to this Assembly" in a letter to EU Parliament President, Hans-Gert Pottering.

Problems anticipated with exhibit

The place for politics is in the debating chamber or in parliamentary committees, a spokesman for Pottering said.

Problems had been anticipated with the exhibit earlier this spring, but the organizers hadn't responded to concerns despite three reminders, said the Quaestor who made the decision, Szabolcs Fazakas.

"I absolutely refute your statement that this issue is at the cost of Parliament's credibility or is a form of censorship... If your intention was really to organize this exhibition, why didn't you follow Parliament's rules?" he asked.

Chechnya has fought two separatist wars in a bid to gain independence. Russian President Putin vowed to crush the rebels when he took office seven years ago.

Russia has been accused of human rights violations during and after the two wars fought there. Human rights groups want the EU to raise the issue with Russia at a summit on Oct. 26.