Application for review approved over book with ‘nudity’ painting

The High Court has approved the application for a judicial review filed by jailed democrat Chow Ka-shing after a book that contains “The Birth of Venus” painting was classified as nudity by the correction services. 

In the written judgment released on Thursday, judge Russell Coleman granted Chow leave to apply for judicial review and ordered a hearing. 

Yet, no date has been picked for the hearing according to the website of the judiciary. 

The review stemmed as Chow’s friend Yau Wan-kong sent Chow a Chinese translation copy of Bildung: Alles, was man wissen muss on September 3 but the Correctional Services rejected the book. 

The book is written by German scholar Dietrich Schwanitz and centers around topics including history, literature, music, philosophy, and culture. 

The department said two of the pages displaying the 1485 painting “The Birth of Venus” by Italian artist Sandro Botticelli were “obscene material” and returned the book to Yau. 

Chow then filed the application for a judicial review, asking the court to declare that the department’s decision is unlawful, irrational, and unconstitutional.