Sweden: Supreme Court mulls manga child porn appeal

Trollbeater

Robin Hood of U15 Torrent
Jan 6, 2009
455
38
Sweden: Supreme Court mulls manga child porn appeal

attachment.php


The highly publicized last appeal of Simon Lundström, a Swedish translator of Japanese manga comics convicted of child pornography crimes, was brought up in Sweden’s Supreme Court (Högsta Domstolen) on Wednesday.

“To me personally this might mean that I am finally cleared. For me as an intelligent human being it would be very interesting to see this absurd law finally being tested in the highest instance,” said Lundström to news agency TT before the negotiations started.

The auditorium was filled to the rafters and several expert witnesses were heard when the final appeal of the case was made.

“These are not real people. The prosecution has a tendency to view these drawings as camouflaged photos, but these are animated fantasies," said one of the expert witnesses, Johan Höjer, a researcher in comics from the University of Gävle.

Höjer also said that it is not unusual that erotic drawings come up when doing a Google search for manga.

Lundström, described by Swedish media as a top manga expert, was found guilty by two lower courts of having 39 drawings portraying figures in sexual poses stored on the hard drive of his computer.

A district court fined him 25,000 kronor ($3,500) but an appeals court lowered the sum to 5,600 kronor.

Lundström's lawyer Leif Silbersky told Swedish news agency TT during a break in proceedings on Wednesday that "this whole case has grown to unreasonable proportions. This is not a crime. This is research."

But according to Hedvig Trost of the prosecution, it can be hard to draw a line between what is an animation and what is a photograph.

“The ban is there to protect children in general, whether it is real children depicted or not,” she said in court.

The images that the man has been convicted of possessing were shown on large screens in the courtroom. The pastel-coloured pictures showed children in different states of undress.

The depicted persons have large eyes and many other features that are characteristic for manga-characters. They are both posing for the viewer and taking part in different sexual activities.

“The images also show children whose genitals are exposed in a sexual way,” Trost said.

Fredrik Strömberg, chairman of the cartoon association Seriefrämjandet and editor of the comic book Bild och Bubbla, tried to give the court a different interpretation of the 39 drawings.

Strömberg, who has studied manga for over ten years, described one of the images, a character with an enlarged head and large eyes.

“With a western eye the body looks as if the person is very young. But you have to keep in mind that in Japan, the ideals are different; the culture is different,” he said, mentioning the Japanese expression “kawaii”, which means sweet or cute.

“In Japan, kawaii is something that permeates all of society. It is reflected in many characters in comics seem smaller and younger, but it doesn’t mean that they are children,” he told the court.

But Trost argued that the images could be used to coerce children into taking part in sexual activities. She questioned the motive for the man possessing the images, which he has claimed was for work purposes, and stressed that the man wasn’t working on translating the images in question.

“And even a drawing could be of a real child. A photo depicting a real child could have been used to make the drawing. It is hard from the outside to know whether there is an original photo or not,” she said in closing.

The hearing was concluded shortly after 1pm on Wednesday and the verdict will be given “in a few weeks”, according to the court.

http://www.thelocal.se/40878/20120516/
 

Satoru182

New Member
Apr 2, 2012
17
8
We are hitting rock bottom here, what a fucking stoopid witch hunt. Its almos as if the lolicon are now sort of a middle earth race, like orcs and are hunted down because they are pure evil. Fuck society i dont want to live in this planet anymore. But I am gonna take my whole collection of lolicon manga with me.
 

loveIdols

Member
Nov 7, 2007
168
3
Hedvig Trost said:
And even a drawing could be of a real child. A photo depicting a real child could have been used to make the drawing. It is hard from the outside to know whether there is an original photo or not.

This pretty much sums it for me -- if you do not know whether it is fictional or not you should first have to prove that it isn't before prosecuting someone for it. Since it is pretty much guaranteed that in 7 billion people one child may look like a drawn character this boils down to the thought crime and should be dismissed as utterly ridiculous.
 

OreillyPy

Huh?
Apr 26, 2012
1
0
Sweden:
But Trost argued that the images could be used to coerce children into taking part in sexual activities. She questioned the motive for the man possessing the images, which he has claimed was for work purposes, and stressed that the man wasn’t working on translating the images in question.

“And even a drawing could be of a real child. A photo depicting a real child could have been used to make the drawing. It is hard from the outside to know whether there is an original photo or not,” she said in closing.

This is what I don't understand....

She argues that the images could be used to coerce children into taking part in sexual activities. So are we arresting people for potential crimes now? I would understand that thinking if the pictures were actually used for that purpose, but unless she has any evidence of that being the case, then this man hasn't committed any crime. Are we going to outlaw knives now since I could potentially go on a killing rampage with one?
 

Glassjaw

Miu > all
Apr 30, 2007
847
145
It's kinda funny but kinda sad how desperate people are to get results in cases like this. No one has been harmed; it is thought crime and a crusade against artistic freedoms.
 

Rollyco

Team Tomoe
Oct 4, 2007
3,562
34
Why are people allowed to possess snuff pictures and videos (where the crime of murder is shown), but fictional _drawings_ of an arguably less heinous crime (child r***) will land you in jail?

ThoughtCrime indeed.
 

Trollbeater

Robin Hood of U15 Torrent
Jan 6, 2009
455
38
Well in the U.S. possession of child pornography will net you more time than actually sexually abusing a minor, so I guess the message is don't look, just do it.

I am being facetious of course.
 

snowyjoe

Member
Feb 24, 2009
46
0
These court cases are nothing more than scapegoats blinding the public from more important issues society has.
 

roceil123

Member
May 20, 2008
184
0
Msg sent and receive.

Stop LOOKING and just DO IT!
 

Tyrannosaurus

TEAM SEA SLUG
Jan 15, 2012
4
0
It boggles my mind when things like horror films/comics/games/etc. that depict the most brutal, sadistic, nightmare-inducing violence (and actively compete with each other to see who can show the most amounts of blood) are freely celebrated and praised for their contents, whilst any erotic manga (be it lolicon or otherwise) is constantly upheld as the very pinnacle of the purest evil.

I'm honestly struggling to understand this. I can watch 100 highly-realistic movies about serial killers and nobody will assume I'd be inspired to commit murder; but if I pick up a hentai mag (depicting only DRAWINGS of completely fictional people in completely fictional and often totally unrealistic scenarios), I'm a bona fide r**ist in the making? LOLWUT?
 

Rollyco

Team Tomoe
Oct 4, 2007
3,562
34
Proof that sexual taboos are the strongest kind.
 

loveIdols

Member
Nov 7, 2007
168
3
They are going after the low hanging fruit as usual, when was the last time they arrested an actual child molester?

Justifying their own existence and wages with this taboo charade is just heinous.
 

frogleg

Member
Aug 10, 2009
52
1
Wasn't Sweden once one of the most Liberal of nations?? Why are they even considering this case. Years ago Sweden and censorship were two words that were never in the same sentence. I hope that the judges realize that even good art can be regarded as pornographic in some peoples opinion, but that is no reason to ban or censor. And, in my opinion there is never reason to ban or censor if the art is private material not intended for the general public.
:distressed:
 

ardo

Member
Mar 2, 2010
212
5
Court acquits expert on Japanese manga of child porn

STOCKHOLM —

Sweden’s highest court on Friday acquitted a Swedish expert and translator of Japanese manga comics of possession of child porn, saying the fantasy figures cannot be put on a par with real children.
“To criminalize possession of the drawings would go beyond what is necessary ... for the limitations on freedom of expression and information,” the Supreme Court ruled.
The court found that the drawings were pornographic, and that they did portray children.“But these are fantasy figures that cannot be mistaken for real children,” it said.

http://www.japantoday.com/category/...cquits-expert-on-japanese-manga-of-child-porn

“In Japan, the ideals are different, the culture is different,” Fredrik Stroemberg said, noting the Japanese fondness for “kawaii”, or cuteness.
“Many figures in comics look smaller and younger, but they are not necessarily children.”

“Children who are subjected to abuse shouldn’t be put on a par with fantasy drawings,” Bjoern Sellstroem, the head of the national police’s child pornography crime unit, told TT recently.
He said police had enough work tracking down perpetrators. “We already have an enormous amount of pictures to go through. Drawings are not uncommon and that would take time away from the work to help children who are in trouble,” he said.