from www.mn.ru - One of the legendary founders of Russia’s domestic porno industry, Sergei Pryanishnikov, turns out to be more sensitive than many of his skin flicks might suggest.
The porn tycoon has got the hump with Gazprom-backed channel NTV after he claims they used an interview with him out of context in a documentary about adult entertainment in Russia.
Pryanishnikov was furious that his name was linked with the likes of bestiality, necrophilia and paedophilia – pointing out that his films, while raunchy, are strictly good, clean adult fun.
Pryanishnikov laid out his objections to the Russian Agency for the Legal and Judicial System.
“I have no complaints about most of the interviews, but after me came a strange man who posed as my lawyer,” he said. “This is not a man of my acquaintance.
“He said that he left me after I began to disseminate bestiality, necrophilia and paedophilia.
“I am not, and never have been engaged in anything like this so you need to refute this information.”
If NTV are held to have made a boob it could prove a costly blunder - the director is hoping to swell his bank balance by 10 million roubles in moral compensation, but the case is not clear cut according to legal experts.
And the very freedom of expression which allows the production of pornography in Russia may leave Pryanishnikov impotent in this case.
“The media has no right to pass on information without checking its legal accuracy,” lawyer Karen Nersisyan told gzt.ru. “Otherwise it will be very difficult to sue NTV.
“The rights and responsibilities of a journalist are to inform the public of meaningful information, and if the journalist has presented the facts correctly, referring to the source, the channel will not be liable for the words of an interviewee.
“Freedom of speech is not an empty formality. It assumes a legal guarantee of immunity.”
Pryanishnikov owns the SP Company, which specialises in erotic movies. His most famous releases include Shkolnitsa (Schoolgirl), Beliye Nochi (White Nights) and Dom-2, inspired by the reality TV show of the same name.
He hit the headlines in 2003 when he tried to run for election as governor of his native St. Petersburg, pledging to make the northern capital into a northern Amsterdam.
However, his bid to get his hands on the organs of power came to nothing, as did an abortive attempt to run for the state duma.
