Both Human Rights Watch and the cross-party law reform organisation Justice say recent legislative changes have created a chilling effect on lawful protest and should be repealed. Their reports, simultaneously published on Thursday, also say that proposals for more curbs should be halted. They highlight the arrest of Republic anti-monarchy protesters during King Charles's coronation, charges and arrests of pro-Palestinian demonstrators and long sentences for climate protesters as examples of the crackdown on the right to peaceful dissent.
Slovenia's government has been accused of turning Roma neighbourhoods into security zones after the passing of a law giving police powers to raid and surveil homes in so-called high-risk areas. At midnight on Monday, the country's parliament backed the Sutar law, named after Ales Sutar, who was killed in an altercation with a 21-year-old Romany man after rushing to a nightclub following a distress call from his son. The incident outside the LokalPatriot club in Novo Mesto, in south Slovenia, last month led to a huge street protests, police being stationed in Roma neighbourhoods and the resignation of two ministers.
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging. At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground.
