A Congolese student has launched a court case in Belgium to have the comic book "Tintin in the Congo" declared racist and withdrawn from sale. (File Photo)

    BEIJING, Aug. 8 (Xinhuanet) -- A Congolese student has launched a court case in Belgium to have the comic book "Tintin in the Congo" declared racist and withdrawn from sale, according to media reports Wednesday.

    "Tintin in the Congo," which first appeared in Belgian newspaper Le Vingtieme Siecle as a comic strip in 1930-1931, is part of the popular series "The Adventures of Tintin" by the late Belgian author and illustrator Herge.

    In the book, it portrays Africans as stereotypical black characters and shows 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," said Mbutu Mondondo Bienvenu, a political science student living in Brussels.

    Bienvenu is also seeking symbolic damages of one euro (1.38 U.S. dollars) from Moulinsart, the publisher that owns the rights to Tintin.

    Moulinsart said it was only aware of the action through the media. A spokesman argued the company 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," the spokesman said.

    It is not the first time that the book has raised hackles over its content.

    The bookselling chain Borders announced last month that it was pulling copies of the 1930s book from the children's shelves in its U.S. and British stores after Britain's Commission for Racial Equality described the book as containing "imagery and words of hideous racial prejudice."

    However, sales of the book in Britain shot up after the complaint.

    (Agencies)