Briton held over naked Putin images

Published on Saturday 21 October 2006 00:34

A BRITISH art expert was seized at a Moscow airport when border guards found satirical cartoons in his luggage depicting the Russian president, Vladimir Putin, naked.

Matthew Bown, owner of the Matthew Bown Art Gallery in London's Saville Row, was last night being held at the Sheremetyevo-2 airport. According to initial reports, guards spotted art works which he had bought at the Moscow Marat Gelman gallery the day before.

The pictures included cartoons depicting Mr Putin, the president of the United States George Bush, the terrorist leader Osama bin Laden, the former Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein and a female suicide bomber.

Mr Bown was prevented from getting on his flight while an inquiry assessed whether the images constitute "anti-government agitation". It was not clear whether he was actually under arrest.