XN000022-1995-02-15 — Page 8

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"With the opaque wrapper and easily noticeable warning notice, news vendors should find it much easier to exercise due care of not selling indecent articles to young people.

"It should also help parents and teachers more effectively play their respective roles in keeping their children or students away from indecent articles," he added.

To enhance enforcement actions, the bill provides a new provision under which it will be an offence to possess indecent articles for the purpose of publication.

At present, no offence is committed even if such indecent articles are found in public places or stored in warehouses.

The new provision also empowers the Police to seize indecent articles in public places if these articles can be used as evidence for prosecution.

"Police officers will no longer need to wait for the actual 'publication' of an indecent article which violates legal requirements such as the lack of opaque wrapper and warning notice.

"Actions can be initiated at once as long as more than two copies of an indecent article in breach of any legal requirements are found in the circumstances which should give rise to reasonable suspicion that they are for the purpose of publication.

"The new power of seizure will further enable Police officers to seize the indecent article on the spot as evidence for prosecution," the spokesman said.

The bill also proposes to increase the maximum fine for violating any legal requirements imposed on the publication of indecent articles from $200,000 to $400,000 on first conviction, and $800,000 on subsequent convictions, and an imprisonment of 12 months.

The spokesman believed that raising the maximum fine should act as a more effective deterrent.

"The Government is mindful that these restrictive measures must be the minimum necessary to be consistent with the Bill of Rights Ordinance," he said.

"We are confident that all these measures are in line with the Bill of Rights Ordinance. We are also confident that these well-balanced proposals will effectively contain the problem of indecent articles, especially the nuisance caused by their public display and young people's accessibility to them," the spokesman added.

End/Wednesday, February 15, 1995