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“Turkish” (left), played by Jason Statham, and “Tommy” (right), played by Stephen Graham, appear in Guy Ritchie's 2000 film Snatch.
A Moscow court has prohibited the online distribution of content containing language deemed to incite hatred against people of Romani heritage, Russian state-controlled news agency TASS reported Wednesday, citing court documents. Among the banned content was a well-known line from Guy Ritchie’s 2000 film Snatch that has become popular in Russian memes.
The court cited the quote delivered by the character Tommy (played by Stephen Graham): “I f***ing hate pikeys” (translated in the Russian court documents as “I f***ing hate Gypsies.”)
The quote is repeated several times throughout the film, including by the character “Gorgeous George,” played by Adam Fogerty.
“Pikey” is a derogatory slang term in British and Irish English that originated as a slur for Irish Travellers, a traditionally nomadic ethnic group also known as Pavee. Over time, it has also been used as an insult toward Roma (Gypsy) communities and, more generally, against people perceived as poor, dishonest, or of low social status.
Moscow’s Ostankinsky District Court ruled in favor of the prosecutors, ordering five websites to immediately block access to the materials in question. “Recognize the information posted on websites [a list of five webpages] as prohibited for distribution. The court’s decision, insofar as it recognizes the information posted on the Internet as prohibited for distribution, is subject to immediate execution,” read the ruling.
The decision also applies to forum discussions and online articles that the court determined to contain “extremist” content.