Christian demoted for anti-gay marriage Facebook post wins employment case
A Christian man who was demoted after making posts opposing gay marriage on Facebook won in an employment case against his employers today. Adrian Smith, an employee of Manchester’s Trafford Housing Trust, lost his managerial position and received a 40 per cent pay cut after receiving a written warning from his employer reprimanding him for making a post saying that allowing same-sex weddings in churches were “an equality too far”. The court ruled that the demotion was a breach of contract, as Smith’s posts were made on a private page and outside of working hours. A legal technicality limited Smith’s damages to £100.
Tags: Adrian Smith,Christianity,employment law,Facebook,freedom of expression,gay marriage,religion,social media,Trafford Housing Trust,UK
Man arrested for poppy burning Facebook picture
Police in Kent, England have arrested a man after he posted a picture of a burning Remembrance Day poppy on Facebook. According to the Kent Police website, the man is being questioned on suspicion of “malicious communications”. Read more »
Tags: Azhar Ahmed,Crown Prosecution Service,Facebook,free speech,Muslims Against Crusades,poppy burning,Remembrance Sunday,social media
UK: Man sentenced to 100 hours of community service for shouting at Prime Minister
A man who shouted “no ifs, not buts, no public sector cuts” at Prime Minister David Cameron during a speech in Glasgow in July has been sentenced to 100 hours of community service, it was reported today.Activist Stuart Rodger, 23, admitted behaving in a threatening or abusive manner by violating a security cordon; shouting and failing to desist; attempting to approach Cameron and causing fear and alarm. His sentence was reduced from 150 hours of community service to 100 due to his guilty plea. The BBC has reported that Rodger was previously fined £200 for hitting Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg with paint.
Tags: David Cameron,freedom of expression,law,protest,Scotland,Stuart Rodger,UK
Greece: Investigative journalist acquitted
Investigative journalist Kostas Vaxevanis, whose Hot Doc magazine published a leaked list (nicknamed the “Lagarde list”) of over 2,000 names of Greeks with Swiss bank accounts, has been acquitted of breaking data privacy laws. In a video uploaded the night before his arrest earlier this week, Vaxevanis said: “They are after me instead of the truth.” His arrest drew widespread condemnation from rights groups and international media.
Tags: Europe,Greece,Kostas,Largarde list,press freedom,privacy
Greece: Another journalist arrested as crackdown continues
Greek journalist Spiros Karatzaferis was arrested today (31 October)
for after threatening to publish damaging allegations about the country’s struggling economy. Karatzaferis said he had obtained information from hacking collective Anonymous, allegedly containing classified documents and email exchanges relating to Greece’s financial bailout from international funders.According to the Greek Reporer, Karatzaferis said authorities had used an old warrant relating to a libel case to arrest him.His arrest comes just days after that of investigative journalist Kostas Vaxevanis for exposing alleged tax cheats, signalling a worrying attack on free speech in the country.
This post was edited for clarity at 16:52 GMT on 31/10/12Tags: censorship,Greece,Kostas Vaxevanis,libel,press freedom,Spiros Karatzaferis
Polish rocker faces religious offence charge
Polish heavy metal singer Adam Darski, AKA Nergal, could face two years in prison for tearing a bible on stage.Nergal, singer with Behemoth, performed the stunt in 2007, before descrbing the Catholic church as “”the most murderous cult on the planet”. A court found has found that the act could be in violation of polish law as it “offended religious feelings”. Prosecutors may now pursue a criminal case.In 2009, Polish pop singer Doda was fined after she said the Bible “was written by someone drunk on wine and smoking some herbs”.
READ: FIVE BIZARRE BLASPHEMY CASES
Tags: Behemoth,blasphemy,heavy metal,poland
Azerbaijan: 100 protesters arrested during crackdown on rally
One hundred protesters were arrested today by security forces in Baku, Azerbaijan‘s capital. The organisers of the protest decided to make their way to Baku’s Fountain Square to call for the dissolution of parliament, even though the country’s authorities refused to sanction the planned rally. Authorities took measures to curb the protests, with security forces gathered in the centre an hour before the planned protest. According to well-known Azerbaijani lawyer Asabali Mustafaev, some protesters outside of Baku were detained before even travelling to the rally.
Tags: Asabali Mustafaev,Azerbaijan,Baku,protest
Four arrested in Bahrain for “social media abuse”
The Bahrain Interior Ministry announced the arrest of four people for defaming public figures on social media today (17 October), with authorities still searching for a fifth.The Acting General Director of Anti-Corruption, Electronic and Economic Security said that the suspects confessed to their crime, which could result in a jail sentence of up to five years. Bahrain’s cyber defamation laws — which include the publication of “fake news” — were revised in September, resulting in heavier monitoring of social media networks to tackle the “misuse” of such platforms.Index award winner Nabeel Rajab of the Bahrain Human Rights Center is currently appealing a three year sentence for organising pro-democracy rallies via social networks.
Tags: arab spring,Bahrain,cybercrime,defamation,social media
