Bid to pulp 'racist' Tintin book

A CONGOLESE student has begun legal action in Belgium to have the comic book Tintin in the Congo declared racist and removed from book stores.

It portrays Africans as stereotypical black characters and whites as their colonial masters.

"I want to put an end to sales of this cartoon book in shops, both for children and for adults. It's racist and it is filled with colonial-era propaganda," Mbutu Mondondo Bienvenu, who lives in Brussels, said.

He is also seeking symbolic damages of 1 from Moulinsart, the publisher that owns the rights to Tintin.

Belgian prosecutors said a judge would examine the case, but a decision on whether to proceed could take six months.

Belgium controlled what is now called the Democratic Republic of Congo until 1960.

A Moulinsart spokesman argued it was not in a position to remove the book from shelves as it controlled Tintin rights but did not publish the novels. "The book dates back to 1931 and has to be seen in the context of the time. We are surprised to see this complaint after so many years," he said.

"Look at John Wayne films, and there are Indians being killed. But I'm not aware of calls to withdraw these movies."

The Commission for Racial Equality called earlier this year for British bookstores to remove the Tintin edition from their shelves. One chain moved it from its children's section to the shelves for adult graphic stories. Sales subsequently shot up.