After movie ban, ministry declares ‘Fifty Shades’ books illegal
The Home Ministry today announced that all three "Fifty Shades" books by author E.L. James have been banned, Bernama reported.
The move to ban the books follows the recent ban by the national censorship board of the movie "Fifty Shades of Grey", which is based on the book of the same title.
The books – "Fifty Shades of Grey", "Fifty Shades Darker" and "Fifty Shades Freed" –
contained elements of pornography based on explicit sexual acts without a clear positive narrative plot, according to a statement from the ministry's Publication and Quranic Texts Control Division.
Division secretary, Hashimah Nik Jaafar, said in the statement that the gazetting of the prohibition was in accordance with Section 7(1) of the Printing Presses and Publications Act 1984.
The titles had been widely sold in bookshops in Malaysia over the past few years.
According to Bernama, it is an offence under Sub-Section 2 of Section 8 of the Printing Presses and Publications Act 1984 if any person prints, imports, produces, reproduces, publishes, sells, manufactures, circulates, offers to sell, distributes or has in his/her possession any of the banned materials.
"Anyone convicted of the offence would be liable to imprisonment for up to three years or a fine of up to RM20,000, or both," Hashimah was quoted as saying by Bernama.
The three English language books are published by Vintage Books, a division of Random House, Inc, New York. – March 16, 2015.
