15 June 2020
The European Court of Human Rights has overturned the criminal conviction by French courts of Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) campaigners. The pro-Palestinian activists were convicted "for incitement to economic discrimination, on account of their participation in actions aimed at boycotting products imported from Israel."
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From the Court's press release:
"In today’s Chamber judgment in the case of Baldassi and Others v. France (application no. 15271/16) the European Court of Human Rights held:
by a majority, that there had been no violation of Article 7 (no punishment without law) of the European Convention on Human Rights, and
unanimously, that there had been a violation of Article 10 (freedom of expression) of the Convention.
The cases concerned a complaint by activists in the Palestinian cause about their criminal conviction for incitement to economic discrimination, on account of their participation in actions aimed at boycotting products imported from Israel as part of the campaign “BDS : Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions”."
Criminal conviction of activists involved in the BDS campaign boycotting products imported from Israel had no relevant and sufficient grounds and violated their freedom of expression (press release, pdf):
Judgment: AFFAIRE BALDASSI ET AUTRES c. FRANCE (French only, pdf) and: Information note (pdf)
EU: Damning draft report on the implementation of the Return Directive
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