Written declaration No. 510 | Doc. 12856 | 27 January 2012

Dangers of restricting freedom of expression

Author(s): several Assembly members

Signatories: Ms Nursuna MEMECAN, Turkey, ALDE ; Ms Najat AL-ASTAL, Palestine ; Ms Nebahat ALBAYRAK, Netherlands, SOC ; Mr Walid ASSAF, Palestinian National Council ; Mr Deniz BAYKAL, Turkey, SOC ; Mr Abdelkebir BERKIA, Morocco ; Ms Gülsün BİLGEHAN, Turkey, SOC ; Mr Abdullah ÇALIŞKAN, Turkey, EDG ; Mr Mevlüt ÇAVUŞOĞLU, Turkey, EDG ; Mr Ali Salem CHAGAF, Morocco ; Mr Ahmet Berat ÇONKAR, Turkey, EDG ; Mr Arcadio DÍAZ TEJERA, Spain, SOC ; Mr Klaas DIJKHOFF, Netherlands, ALDE ; Mr Şaban DİŞLİ, Turkey, EPP/CD ; Mr Mekki ELHANKOURI, Morocco ; Ms Tülin ERKAL KARA, Turkey, EPP/CD ; Ms Sevinj FATALIYEVA, Azerbaijan, EDG ; Ms Sahiba GAFAROVA, Azerbaijan, EDG ; Sir Roger GALE, United Kingdom, EDG ; Mr Tamás GAUDI NAGY, Hungary, NR ; Mr Andreas GROSS, Switzerland, SOC ; Ms Pelin GÜNDEŞ BAKIR, Turkey, EDG ; Mr Emrehan HALICI, Turkey, SOC ; Mr Mike HANCOCK, United Kingdom, ALDE ; Mr Rafael HUSEYNOV, Azerbaijan, ALDE ; Mr Antti KAIKKONEN, Finland, ALDE ; Mr Giorgi KANDELAKI, Georgia, EPP/CD ; Mr Burhan KAYATÜRK, Turkey, EPP/CD ; Mr Akif Çağatay KILIÇ, Turkey, ALDE ; Mr Haluk KOÇ, Turkey, SOC ; Ms Elvira KOVÁCS, Serbia, EPP/CD ; Mr Tiny KOX, Netherlands, UEL ; Mr Václav KUBATA, Czech Republic, EPP/CD ; Mr Ertuğrul KÜRKÇÜ, Turkey, UEL ; Sir Edward LEIGH, United Kingdom, EDG ; Mr Terry LEYDEN, Ireland, ALDE ; Mr Younal LOUTFI, Bulgaria, ALDE ; Ms Yuliya L'OVOCHKINA, Ukraine, EDG ; Ms Kerstin LUNDGREN, Sweden, ALDE ; Ms Meritxell MATEU PI, Andorra, ALDE ; Mr Patrick MORIAU, Belgium, SOC ; Mr Fazil MUSTAFA, Azerbaijan, ALDE ; Mr Abdülkadir Emin ÖNEN, Turkey, ALDE ; Mr Nazmi Haluk ÖZDALGA, Turkey, EDG ; Mr Dimitrios PAPADIMOULIS, Greece, UEL ; Ms Ganira PASHAYEVA, Azerbaijan, EDG ; Mr Oleksiy PLOTNIKOV, Ukraine, SOC ; Ms Lisbeth Bech POULSEN, Denmark, UEL ; Ms Carmen QUINTANILLA, Spain, EPP/CD ; Mr Andrea RIGONI, Italy, ALDE ; Mr Ilir RUSMALI, Albania, EPP/CD ; Mr Stefan SCHENNACH, Austria, SOC ; Mr Samad SEYIDOV, Azerbaijan, EDG ; Ms Maria STAVROSITU, Romania, EPP/CD ; Ms Tineke STRIK, Netherlands, SOC ; Mr Elkhan SULEYMANOV, Azerbaijan, EPP/CD ; Mr Björn von SYDOW, Sweden, SOC ; Mr Mehmet TEKELİOĞLU, Turkey, EPP/CD ; Mr Ahmet Kutalmiş TÜRKEŞ, Turkey, EDG ; Mr Tuğrul TÜRKEŞ, Turkey, EDG ; Mr Stefaan VERCAMER, Belgium, EPP/CD ; Mr Nikolaj VILLUMSEN, Denmark, UEL ; Mr Robert WALTER, United Kingdom, EDG

This written declaration commits only those who have signed it.

Bill No. 229, which was adopted by the French Senate on 24 January, 2012, is in violation of freedom of expression as defined in the European Convention on Human Rights. It restricts the freedom of speech as well as the right to defend individual opinions and conduct independent research. The bill is also in breach of the French Constitution as declared by the Laws Commission of the French Senate in May 2011 and January 2012.

Violation of fundamental human rights in an established democracy seriously harms the credibility and reputation of Europe. Furthermore, it sets a dangerous precedent for other member states to limit the freedom of expression as well as other individual rights at their discretion.

We are deeply concerned by the threat on European core values and its serious consequences. We still expect action to be taken within French politics before the damage reaches an irreversible stage.