A man has launched a one person campaign against the Island?s anti-pornography legislation.

Dwight Lambert had a parcel of adult entertainment DVDs seized at the Pembroke Fed Ex store on February 17 and was informed it was taken under the 1974 Obscene Materials Act.

He told he has been bringing adult entertainment DVDs to Bermuda, to be viewed privately in his home, for years with no problem. He feels the confiscation of his private DVDs goes beyond porn, it?s about his civil liberties.

?The issue here is greater than that of adult materials,? he said. ?It is about our civil liberties. Liberties protected by the European Convention, which protects the freedoms of the individual by limiting the powers of governments.

?The local legislation is effectively allowing agents of the Government to wrongly confiscate items and makes them legalised criminals.?

When Mr. Lambert was informed that his goods had been seized he was determined to find answers.

He questioned Customs officials and members of the Department of Prosecution and read up on both Bermuda and international law in a bid to find out if it was legal to confiscate private items.

Mr. Lambert has turned what he perceives to be an injustice into a one-man crusade, but the crusade has gathered momentum with over 600 people signing a petition and the cause being picked up by a local blog, www.imho.bm.

He has also done his research and said the 1973 act contravenes two articles of the European Convention, which Bermuda as a colony must follow.

Mr. Lambert has also sent letters to the Attorney General informing him of the articles in the European Convention that he believes the 1973 Act defies. The 1974 Obscene Materials Act states that an article is obscene if ?its effect, taken as a whole is to outrage contemporary standards of decency or humanity accepted by the public at large?. He said the public at large has no business with his private DVD collection.

He believes the Government is ?trouncing? on civil liberties people have spent decades fighting for.

?Equating this issue to porn would be the same as equating Rosa Parks struggle to a bus seat,? he said.

Solicitor General Wilhelm Bourne said he has received the letter and that they are looking into it.

?We are looking at the letters he wrote to see if there is any advice we can give to any departments in question,? he said.

Article 8 of the European Convention states that: ?Everyone has the right to respect for his private and family life, his home and his correspondence. There shall be no interference by a public authority with the exercise of this right...?

The article goes on to state Government is allowed to interfere when it is in the interest of national security, public safety and the protection of health and morals, among other things.

?They have invaded my property and denied me the peaceful enjoyment of my possessions,? Mr. Lambert said. ?They have also interfered with my correspondence. Nothing in my correspondence was intended for public use. If they had not confiscated it, no one would be the wiser. By confiscating it they are making the issue a public one.?

Mr. Lambert said that he has asked to be prosecuted under the Act so he can defend his civil liberties but that no one seems able to answer his questions. In failing to prosecute him he says the Government has violated Article 13 of the European Convention. It states that anyone whose rights are violated by a person acting in an official capacity has the right to an ?effective remedy before a national authority?.

?If I have done something so criminal to warrant confiscating my property, surely I need to be prosecuted,? he added.

?If they do not, and have not, prosecuted anyone, why is the law still hanging over people?s heads? What is the point? Why aren?t we allowed justice? As they say, ?justice delayed is justice denied?.?

Mr. Lambert is taking a stand against the Government and the legislation because he is afraid no one else will. As far as he knows, no one else has ever questioned or fought the law.

?I have nothing to lose,? he said. ?If I don?t say anything, no one else may. I am willing and prepared to take this to the European Court of Human Rights. These are my civil liberties and I intend to protect them.?