Rabelais censorship ban: suppression of artistic expression?

Michael Brown, Melita Bernt, Ben Ross And Valentina Srpeanska were the 1995 editors of the La Trobe University student newspaper, "Rabelais". One edition of that paper was banned by the Chief Censor on the request of the Retail Traders Association Of Victoria, who were upset by an article on how to shoplift.

The editors appealed the ban in the Federal Court, as they had also been charged under state laws for having published and distributed the banned edition. Arts Alive spoke to Marcus Clayton, the instructing solicitor for the Rabelais editors, after Justice Ron Merkel handed down his reserved decision on Friday 6 June, upholding the Chief Censors ban.

The Rabelais editors currently face three charges each, with penalties as high as six years in gaol and fines of up to $7,2000.

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