SLAPP lawsuits: A slap in the face of democracy & rule of law | DW News

Описание: Karl Bär, an employee of the Munich Environmental Institute and now a member of the Bundestag, is currently on trial in Bolzano. The accusation: defamation. The cause was a Pesticide Tyrol campaign from 2017, which informed the public about the high use of toxic pesticides in South Tyrolean apple monocultures. Although Karl Bär can prove every single pesticide use, he faces private insolvency as a result of the lawsuits.
Another example of a German SLAPP victim is the organization Rettet den Regenwald, which was sued for defamation in Hamburg for criticizing the practices of the palm oil and timber company Korindo. They are currently collecting donations in order to be able to pay the high lawyer's fees.
Freedom of expression is a valuable asset, but even in Europe people who mount ecological and social grievances are increasingly ending up in court. This is because companies, governments and powerful individuals are trying to silence critical voices with so-called SLAPP lawsuits. SLAPP stands for Strategic Lawsuits against Public Participation. Initial findings of a study by Greenpeace International indicate that SLAPPs have also increased sharply in Europe. The EU Commission and the new German government now want to put a stop to SLAPPs.

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#Environment #Democracy #SLAPPlawsuits