Jailed democrat files for review after ‘The Birth of Venus’ painting in book classified as ‘nudity’

Jailed pro-democracy activist Chow Ka-shing has filed for a judicial review to the High Court after a book sent by his friend which contains the 1485 painting “The Birth of Venus” was classified as “obscene material” and rejected by the Correctional Services Department. 

That book is a Chinese translation copy of Bildung: Alles, was man wissen muss authored by German scholar Dietrich Schwanitz. 

The book was sent to Chow by his friend Yau Wan-kong on September 3 and Chow learned from an officer two days later that he would not receive the book “because it continued obscene material”. 

As Yau visited Chow again on September 16, the book was returned to him with a yellow post-it that said “Nudity! Return!” on page 325 of the book – the first of the two pages displaying the world-renowned painting “The Birth of Venus” by Italian artist Sandro Botticelli. 

In the writ filed on Monday, Chow referred to the Britannica encyclopedia and noted that the painting is regarded as one of the most famous paintings in the world. 

“It is also of note that ‘The Birth of Venus’ was regarded as one of the 10 most famous paintings in the world by the CNN in November 2019.” 

Chow had earlier complained to the department and the Ombudsmen, and had written to lawmakers Peter Koon Ho-ming and Tik Chi-yuen. Koon also visited Chow in person in hope of learning more about his complaint. 

Chow now asks the court to declare that the decision is unlawful, irrational, and unconstitutional, and that it amounts to a disproportionate restriction to his freedom of expression granted under the Basic Law and the Hong Kong Bill of Rights. 

He also asks the court to quash the department’s decision and to issue an order that the department allows the book to be received by him.