Hong Kong- Student editors of a college newspaper vowed Tuesday to continue publishing a sex column despite a furore over a recent issue which featured a survey with questions about incest and bestiality. The newspaper's 11-member editorial board, including chief editor Tsang Chiu-wai, said they would also appeal against a decision by anti-obscenity watchdogs that ruled sex-related pages within the paper, Student Press, were indecent. This meant material could not be distributed or made available to people younger than 18.
The Obscene Articles Tribunal ruled that pages within the February, March and April editions of the newspaper, produced for students at Chinese University, together with two online versions broke the law. The tribunal plans to announce its penalty later.
Commenting on the ruling, the editorial board's spokesperson Lee Nga-chong said: "This pre-empted judgment is unfair and we do not find any objective criteria in the process."
The dispute, which began after publication of the February issue that included questions asking readers which family member or animal they would like to have sex with, has prompted a wider debate about press freedom in Hong Kong.
An online petition calling for the university to safeguard intellectual freedom and its students had received about 600 signatures by late Monday, including those from professors and academics in Hong Kong, New Zealand, Britain, the United States and Taiwan.
By comparison, the Television and Entertainment Licensing Authority had received more than 80 complaints since the row started last week.
