Busted

Not many people know - well me at least before I came here - that PNG takes pornography very seriously. So seriously in fact that an Australian man who was caught with three Playboys in his house could go to jail for six months. Here was how the little story featured in the press down south recently.

Playboy may land Aussie in PNG jail

An Australian man who allegedly had three Playboy magazines in his apartment could spend six months in a Papua New Guinea jail.
The 59-year-old, from Oakleigh in Melbourne, faced a court in the PNG capital Port Moresby this week, charged with possession of pornography.
A PNG police spokesman said officers had earlier raided his home in the suburb of Koki, finding the magazines in a box.
The man, who had been working as a workshop manager for a construction company in Port Moresby, denied any knowledge of the magazines and denied the charges, the spokesman said.
He said officers had searched the man's apartment, acting on a warrant following complaints he had committed an assault and illegally discharged a pistol on February 25.
No firearms were found, but the three Playboy magazines were found in a box during the search, he said.
The man was granted bail when he faced Boroko District Court this week. He will reappear in court again on a date to be set, the spokesman said.
PNG law has a much wider definition than Australia of what constitutes pornography.
The pornography possession charge carries a fine of up to 500 kina ($A203) or six months in jail.

In another incident last year, an Aussie guy in Lae was in the district court for having some videos and magazines. It turns out that his haus meri was the one who dobbed him in. He managed to get out of a jail sentence, arguing that he had not realised the strict laws here and got slapped with a fine of 1000 Kina and then promptly left the country.

The Playboy guy above will no doubt go the same way with a fine only. Jailing someone for six months for three Playboys is a tad excessive. It also seems in this case that the cops were a bit over zealous. They couldn't find a gun so they came up with the mags.

In case you're wondering, no I won't be booted out of the country anytime soon. Unless the law also covers the FHM and Maxim (bloke) mags which Jonika gave me to take away after she is continually being embarrassed by having Alex buy them at airport terminals. Sorry mate, dobbed you in.