Bolivia: Anez Backs Down, Annuls Decree Against Speech Freedom
Bolivia: Añez Backs Down, Annuls Decree Against Speech Freedom
The Government takes armed military personnel to the streets in order to "encourage"
patients with Covid-19, Cochabamba, Bolivia, May 9, 2020. | Photo: Twitter/ @wiphalo1975
The decree aimed at sanctioning those who disseminate information contrary to the coup-born regime's interests.
Published 15 May 2020
Due to pressure stemming from human rights defenders, Bolivia's coup-born regime led by Jeanine Añez Thursday was forced to repeal a decree allowing it to extend restrictions on freedom of expression during the COVID-19 pandemic.
The decree issued on May 7 aimed at sanctioning those "who violate the quarantine to disseminate written, printed, or artistic information that affects public health," Communication Minister Isabel Fernandez explained.
Articles from a general decree issued on March 20 were also repealed, as they contained penalties that limited freedom of expression.
"Using criminal law in favor of governments' interests is inconceivable. Nothing should stop access to public information," the International Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) Special Rapporteur Edison Lanza said.
More:
https://www.telesurenglish.net/news/bolivias-coupborn-annuls-decree-against-freedom-of-expression-20200515-0003.html
What a sad day for Bolivia when the hard right pulled off its filthy coup and slid this lunatic into the President's office. Jesus F. Christ.
Holding aloft an antique Bible, as she intends to shove it up the nose of the Native Bolivian Americans.
