In a landmark case the Swedish Supreme Court decided that Shota and Lolicon are legal. A Swedish manga-translator has been cleared of child pornography charges in a case that has sparked debate about whether cartoon characters can be considered people. Simon Lundstroem had appealed to the Supreme Court against his conviction for possessing 39 sexual images depicting young-looking characters drawn in manga style.

While child pornography is illegal in Sweden as it is everywhere, it wasn’t clear whether the definition extended to drawn characters. The court ruled that all images of fantasy figures can not be considered as images of real children. While potentially offensive to some, the images posed a substantially lower risk of provoking abuse against children than realistic ones, the judges found. They said it was important to recognise that manga cartoons are deeply rooted in Japanese culture.

Freedom of speech campaigners will take heart from the judges’ contention that criminalising the possession of such images would be an infringement of the freedom of speech and of information. The chair of the Swedish Writers’ Union, Mats Soederlund, had been concerned that Swedish law was at risk of "forbidding fantasies". "To punish the possession of such drawings is a threat to the freedom of speech and art," he said.

The verdict was also applauded by the child pornography unit of the Swedish police who warned that investigating such cases was a dangerous waste of resources. They argued that there would have been a risk that the focus will shift from combating pictures and films of real child abuse to a discussion of whether we will judge drawings of fantasy figures as child pornography or art. "Let us not forget that it is children we must protect and not put imaginary figures on an equal footing with them." they said. [via BBC News and The Local]

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