Moscow court bans 'Innocence of Muslims' video

A Moscow court has banned the anti-Islam video Innocence of Muslims that was at the center of worldwide demonstrations last month in Islamic countries, RIA Novosti reports.

Moscow's Tverskoi Court says its ruling, which declared the U.S.-produced video as extremist, will take effect Oct. 5.

Prosecutor Viktoria Maslova told the court that the video, which was shown in the courtroom, "puts the Islamic religion in a bad light and it might push religious intolerance in the Russian Federation to a new level," the Itar-Tass news agency reports.

A 13-minute trailer of the film, which portrays the prophet Mohammed as a womanizer and fool, has appeared on YouTube.

Google, which owns YouTube, announced shortly after the ruling that it would block access to the film in Russia as soon as it receives a formal court order, the Russian news agency reports.

A court in Grozny, the capital of Russia's mainly Islamic Republic of Chechnya, last week also blocked widespread distribution of the film, according to Chechnya's Media Ministry.

Under legislation that takes effect next month, Internet sites that carry content banned in Russia will be placed on a register, Reuters reports. Internet providers then have one day to block access to the material.