I start every day with a quick scan of the news, and then move on. However, today two items really stand out showing how freedom of speech and the rule of law which are fundamental to modern society are being aggressively corroded by governments and companies:
UK secret trial
A major terrorism trial is to be heard entirely in secret in a “totally unprecedented departure” from centuries of open justice, it can be disclosed.
For the first time in British legal history, two men charged with serious terrorism offences will be kept anonymous and the press and public will be excluded from their trial, the Court of Appeal heard.
MPs and civil rights campaigners said it was an “outrageous assault” on the principles of open justice and set a “very dangerous precedent”.
Prosecutors have successfully applied for the case to be heard in private on grounds of national security but media organisations are trying to overturn the decision.
Journalists have up until now even been banned from reporting the fact that a trial was to be heard in secret.
The move has fuelled concerns over the growth of secret justice in British courts, which has already spread to civil cases and celebrity privacy challenges.
But a major criminal case being heard entirely behind closed doors risks ripping up the very tradition of open justice in the UK, which dates back to the Magna Carta of 1215.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/terrorism-in-the-uk/10876499/Secret-terror-trial-is-assault-on-British-justice.html
LinkedIn censorship and collusion
A major international social networking company is being criticized for assisting with China’s aggressive censorship of matters concerning the 25th anniversary of the Tiananmen Square protests.
At the request of Chinese authorities, the professional connection site LinkedIn is removing content from member’s sites that reference the protests or their subsequent violent suppression.
The content, which can take the form of posts, messages or other comments, is being removed without the members’ permission.
http://www.voanews.com/content/linkedin-faces-flak-for-censoring-on-behalf-of-china/1929613.html
Is anyone else sickened by these?
UK secret trial
A major terrorism trial is to be heard entirely in secret in a “totally unprecedented departure” from centuries of open justice, it can be disclosed.
For the first time in British legal history, two men charged with serious terrorism offences will be kept anonymous and the press and public will be excluded from their trial, the Court of Appeal heard.
MPs and civil rights campaigners said it was an “outrageous assault” on the principles of open justice and set a “very dangerous precedent”.
Prosecutors have successfully applied for the case to be heard in private on grounds of national security but media organisations are trying to overturn the decision.
Journalists have up until now even been banned from reporting the fact that a trial was to be heard in secret.
The move has fuelled concerns over the growth of secret justice in British courts, which has already spread to civil cases and celebrity privacy challenges.
But a major criminal case being heard entirely behind closed doors risks ripping up the very tradition of open justice in the UK, which dates back to the Magna Carta of 1215.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/terrorism-in-the-uk/10876499/Secret-terror-trial-is-assault-on-British-justice.html
LinkedIn censorship and collusion
A major international social networking company is being criticized for assisting with China’s aggressive censorship of matters concerning the 25th anniversary of the Tiananmen Square protests.
At the request of Chinese authorities, the professional connection site LinkedIn is removing content from member’s sites that reference the protests or their subsequent violent suppression.
The content, which can take the form of posts, messages or other comments, is being removed without the members’ permission.
http://www.voanews.com/content/linkedin-faces-flak-for-censoring-on-behalf-of-china/1929613.html
Is anyone else sickened by these?
The British secret trial is a pretty interesting one. Especially because like you pointed out Britain has a rich and long tradition of public justice which many countries have emulated in their own legal systems.
The linkedin thing is just linkedin being stupid. It's pretty laughable that a public American company would do something like that. It's not like linkedin is a very respected company anyway, and doing things like this just adds to their poor image.
