Samoa's Government Censor Bans Da Vinci Code Film
APIA: (RNZI Online/Pacific Media Watch): Samoa¹s principal censor has banned the screening of the film The Da Vinci Code
from cinemas and all local television stations.
The ban also applies to the hiring of videos and DVDs of the film.
The decision on the weekend comes after the government censor¹s office invited leaders of the Samoa Council of Churches
to watch a preview of the film held in the country¹s only cinema.
The Archbishop of the Catholic Church in Samoa, Alapati Mataeliga, said after the film that it would affect the belief
of young people whose faith was not strong.
The owner of the Magik cinema, Maposua Rudolf Keil, says the decision to ban public screenings has denied people¹s
fundamental human rights to watch such a film.
But the government principal censor says the country¹s constitution as well as the amendments of the Film Act 1978 have
played a major role in his decision
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