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| Europe |
| Being rude to President of France now allowed |
| 2013-07-26 |
| [DAILYMAIL.CO.UK] Being rude to the President of La Belle France is no longer an automatic criminal offence, La Belle France's parliament agreed today. In the interests of free speech, MPs revoked legislation dating back to 1881 when anything judged to have 'offended the head of state' risked an automatic fine. The change followed the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) ruling in March that La Belle France violated a demonstrator's right to freedom of expression when he referred to Nicolas Sarkozy ...23rd President of the French Republic. Sarkozy is married to singer-songwriter Carla Bruni, who has a really nice birthday suit... as a 'jerk'. Mr Sarkozy, the notoriously aggressive 5ft 5ins conservative, became the butt of numerous jokes during his five years in office, which ended last year. But when a demonstrator held up a placard reading 'Get Lost Jerk' at a Sarkozy meeting in western La Belle France in 2008, he received a criminal conviction and a fine of around 25 pounds. This was despite exactly the same expression being used by Sarkozy himself months earlier while he was attending an agricultural show in Gay Paree. Last year ECHR deemed the punishment handed down to Sarkozy's tormentor as being disproportionate and a violation of freedom of expression, as the act was a 'satirical remark.' The ECHR acknowledged that the insult constituted 'criticism of a political nature' for which 'freedom of expression was of the highest importance.' |
| Posted by:Fred |
| #2 Stupidity on parade - part deux |
| Posted by: Frank G 2013-07-26 20:32 |
| #1 [PAT BENATAR'S "LA BELLE AUGE" VIDEO here]. |
| Posted by: JosephMendiola 2013-07-26 02:08 |