Student editors' appeal fails

By Bronwen Beechey

MELBOURNE -- The former editors of LaTrobe University's student newspaper, Rabelais, face criminal charges following the rejection of an appeal to the Federal Court.

On June 6 Justice Ron Merkel said that the students had not proved that the Classification Review Board had erred in upholding the chief censor's 1995 decision to ban the newspaper because it contained an article on shoplifting. The national censorship scheme makes it illegal to publish material that “instructs in matters of crime or violence”.

Michael Brown, Melita Berndt, Ben Ross and Valentina Srpanska now face penalties of up to six years in prison and/or fines of up to $72,000 if convicted.

The charges had been deferred pending the outcome of the Federal Court appeal. Marcus Clayton, solicitor for the four, said that they are considering whether to appeal to the full court of the Federal Court.

Clayton said that there are serious implications for anyone expressing protest or dissent. “Many acts of protest, including industrial action such as pickets and secondary bans and blockading logging of forests, are in fact illegal. Anyone who writes a leaflet or article advocating these actions could face criminal charges. The same would apply to anything written in favour of euthanasia, smoking marijuana or instructing drug users on safe injecting techniques.”

Clayton added that the national censorship scheme“also fails to recognise the role of legitimate political comment and satire. The Rabelais editors argued that the shoplifting article was satirical in its intent, designed to highlight the poverty faced by many students ... The review board refused to accept this.”

In fact, the article had been published previously with no legal response. Since its publication in Rabelais, two women's magazines, She and Australian Women's Forum have published articles about shoplifting which included detailed information about techniques. Both articles were passed by the Classification Review Board.

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