The initial legal battle between English professor Josephine Ho (
The suit against Ho, the future dean of National Central University's English Department, was filed last June by a group of activists, lawyers, teachers and parents objecting to Ho's having posted a link to a site detailing intercourse between humans and animals, on the web page of the university's Center for the Study of Sexuality, where Ho has served as director for four years. The link to the site, which features graphic images and a manual on how to have sex with animals, has sparked debate on academic freedom.
Taking up the suit, the Taipei District Prosecutor's Office charged Ho last December with violating Article 235 of the Criminal Code, which says, "A person who distributes, sells, publicly displays, or by other means shows to another person indecent writing, drawing, or other [work] shall be punished."
PHOTO: LUO PEI-TE, TAIPEI TIMES
The judgment was revealed at the Taipei District Court yesterday morning at 11am in a brief announcement. Sexuality and academic groups supporting Ho were cautiously happy with the decision.
"We'll need to wait and see the official court opinion on the case before we'll know their reasons for the decision, and to see if they decided she was not guilty because of academic freedom or what other reasons," said Wang Ping (
In her post-verdict statement to the press, Ho said that she was pleased that there is room for open-minded and rational discussion of sexual issues in society.
"However, despite the `not guilty' decision, sexual discussion has still been severely hurt by this lawsuit, and there are negative effects already being felt by the academic and social activist worlds," said Ho, further citing the gay magazine confiscation lawsuit against Gin Gin Bookstore as an example of the increasing power of conservatism in Taiwan.
To show her determination to continue improving conditions for sexual discussion in Taiwan, Ho announced that the controversial web page was back up and fully operational, with an even more comprehensive listing of bestiality links than before.
Ho also vowed to meet with various social groups to push through legal changes.
The ROC Publication Appraisal Foundation issued a written response on behalf of the groups that objected to the link yesterday, vowing to appeal the decision.
"Professor Ho placed pictures of naked bodies and bestiality on the public domain of the Internet for anyone to download," the statement said. "She not only did not regret her actions afterward, but also turned the truth inside out to defend herself. This sort of irresponsible academic research and negative social education has hurt all of society."
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