Spain: Congress Passes Draconian “Gag Law”

Xios

Holy ****. I'm not so sure about the source, but i'd expect this to be pretty big news if it's true. It's the first step towards a Police state in the EU, that'll certainly rock the boat.

*Link is Dead, Try this one*
http://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/nov/21/spain-government-strict-anti-protest-laws

http://revolution-news.com/spain-congress-passes-draconian-gag-law/

Just one day after International Human Rights Day, the #LeyMordaza (Gag Law) has been approved in Spain which essentially legalizes human rights abuses. Under the new law, the production and distribution of images such as this one can get you a 30.000€ fine.

Mesrine65

Shades of Franco's ghost in modern day Spain.

SEPT 23 1989

something nasty is coming down the road if they need to do this

darkpagandeath

Would this kind of thing not be against treaties signed to be part of the EU and thusly be made to repeal said law ?

BoJack Horseman

darkpagandeath wrote: »

Would this kind of thing not be against treaties signed to be part of the EU and thusly be made to repeal said law ?

Indeed.

I would be surprised if it wasn't challenged in the EU or the ECHR

Nodin

Xios wrote: »

Holy ****. I'm not so sure about the source, but i'd expect this to be pretty big news if it's true. It's the first step towards a Police state in the EU, that'll certainly rock the boat.

http://revolution-news.com/spain-congress-passes-draconian-gag-law/

Well this is from El Pais and it still doesn't look too rosy
http://elpais.com/elpais/2014/12/12/inenglish/1418379884_767333.html

Xios

SEPT 23 1989 wrote: »

something nasty is coming down the road if they need to do this

I have the same foreboding feeling, something significant will happen this decade on an international scale. Be it the collapse of the US or Chinese Economy (or both) or perhaps some long winded war between significant nations, as opposed to the myriad of proxy wars over the last 50 years, (china/Japan, Russia/Ukraine)

randy hickey

Xios wrote: »

I have the same foreboding feeling, something significant will happen this decade on an international scale. Be it the collapse of the US or Chinese Economy (or both) or perhaps some long winded war between significant nations, as opposed to the myriad of proxy wars over the last 50 years, (china/Japan, Russia/Ukraine)

Or Daniel O'Donnell could finally break America.

Xios

randy hickey wrote: »

Or Daniel O'Donnell could finally break America.

Don't tease me Randy, we can only hope.

suicide_circus

Wow thats pretty fcuking extreme. No es beuno.

qt3.14

That's fantastic news... For the corrupt government and royal family

Tail Docker

"Defending the bill in the PP’s name, party official Conrado Escobar reminded Congress that the new legislation will replace an earlier Socialist law that was popularly known as “the kick-down-the-door law” because it was also deemed repressive."

His cousin Pablo was a bit of a boyo too.

I wonder will we quietly get similar legislation in the wake of the "Water Protests" - certainly the State is going out of its way to demonize the protesters as violent dissidents and imply that they have been infiltrated by Dissident groups. Also, the Freedom to use "private security guards" is a biggie - Think Blackwater and quasi-paramilitary guns for hire patrolling demonstrations.

This is a big, bad, bit of legislation.

qt3.14

Tail Docker wrote: »

"Defending the bill in the PP’s name, party official Conrado Escobar reminded Congress that the new legislation will replace an earlier Socialist law that was popularly known as “the kick-down-the-door law” because it was also deemed repressive."

His cousin Pablo was a bit of a boyo too.

I wonder will we quietly get similar legislation in the wake of the "Water Protests" - certainly the State is going out of its way to demonize the protesters as violent dissidents and imply that they have been infiltrated by Dissident groups. Also, the Freedom to use "private security guards" is a biggie - Think Blackwater and quasi-paramilitary guns for hire patrolling demonstrations.

This is a big, bad, bit of legislation.

i don't think we'll see similar here. The government has a much more cynical way of dealing with things. Considering the guards on Wednesday were ordered not to remove the protestors at O'Connell bridge and luas tracks I firmly believe they prefer divide and conquer. Let the protestors pïss off everyone else and the movement becomes discredited.

Karl Stein

I don't think it's workable. Some dude films a cop beating the shit out of someone and sends it to a third party like leakywiks and it ends up all over the web.

qt3.14

qt3.14 wrote: »

. Let the protestors pïss off everyone else and the movement becomes discredited.

It's working, too

SpaceTime

That's worrying.

Aspects of Spain are still basically in Franco mode

YFlyer

Karl Stein wrote: »

I don't think it's workable. Some dude films a cop beating the shit out of someone and sends it to a third party like leakywiks and it ends up all over the web.

Heard that its illegal for some time to film the police arresting somebody in Spain.

TheBeardedLady

Roll on the general elections; it'll be abolished by the next lot. PP are a horrible bunch of fcukers but they'll be gone soon.

qt3.14

TheBeardedLady wrote: »

Roll on the general elections; it'll be abolished by the next lot. PP are a horrible bunch of fcukers but they'll be gone soon.

It has broad support even in opposition parties bar one.

GLaDOS

qt3.14 wrote: »

It has broad support even in opposition parties bar one.

Does it? I read the opposite

It was passed in the lower house of the Spanish parliament on Thursday, despite all parliamentary groups except for the ruling PP voting against the legislation. It will now be reviewed by the Spanish senate where the PP enjoys an overwhelming majority.

http://www.thelocal.es/20141212/spain-passes-tough-citizens-security-law

Maybe not the best source though

Adamantium

Xios wrote: »

Holy ****. I'm not so sure about the source, but i'd expect this to be pretty big news if it's true. It's the first step towards a Police state in the EU, that'll certainly rock the boat.

http://revolution-news.com/spain-congress-passes-draconian-gag-law/

Stupid sexy police state!

BlaasForRafa

ScienceNerd wrote: »

Does it? I read the opposite

The thing is, opposition parties have a habit of dropping their convictions and embracing authoritarianism once they get into government.

These laws will surely be cut to bits by the european courts eventually...

TheBeardedLady

qt3.14 wrote: »

It has broad support even in opposition parties bar one.

No it doesn't, it's totally opposed by all parties bar one - the ones that brought it in and who'll be gone this time next year.

Edit: just saw ScienceNerd's post above.

crockholm

I like PP-firstly,their initials sound like piss,secondly - they seem to be pulling Spain out of the abyss.

TheBeardedLady

crockholm wrote: »

I like PP-firstly,their initials sound like piss,secondly - they seem to be pulling Spain out of the abyss.

I refuse to rise to the bait! Good night to you, sir!

qt3.14

TheBeardedLady wrote: »

No it doesn't, it's totally opposed by all parties bar one - the ones that brought it in and who'll be gone this time next year.

Edit: just saw ScienceNerd's post above.

Yep, sorry, misread it!

crockholm

TheBeardedLady wrote: »

I refuse to rise to the bait! Good night to you, sir!

Come on now! I did concede a Little when I mentioned the piss (as an appeasement)

I get my Spanish news from "The Local.es",which may not be as thorough,but it does have great tips for Brits surviving Christmas in Spain,but it does seem to an outsider that Spain is ...uuuhhhhh..."Turning a corner".

languagenerd

Well, this is worrying... If I've understood it correctly, lots of these were already offences but now the police can essentially convict you and hand out fines immediately without going through a judge. That's a dangerous precedent to be setting (I generally trust police officers but it worries me how vaguely worded some of these things are and how the interpretation of them might vary)

It's a really weird law because there are loads of unrelated things in it and a few of them are fairly understandable (like an on-the-spot fine if you're caught pointing laser beams at a pilot or driver, or if you're caught with a weapon/illegal fireworks).

Some of the other things you can be fined for:
-Not carrying your ID card with you at all times
-Losing your ID three times in one year
-Holding protests in public places without asking permission first
-Resisting authority "when it's not a crime" (?!)
-Not showing respect to authority (that could be interpreted in various ways...)
-Using images or details of the security forces "in a way that could endanger the member of the force" (I'm guessing that's where the idea of a ban on publishing photos of police comes from?)

There's a full list here if you speak Spanish: http://www.20minutos.es/noticia/2322187/0/ley-seguridad-ciudadana/aprobada-congreso/puntos-clave/.

Tail Docker

"You must respect my authoritiiiy""

Another little cnut said that a few times too.

Highflyer13

A worrying law for an EU state to be passing. Dont really want to mention our crowd but they are shutting down debate in the Dail a lot these days which has me concerned. Questions that need answering are blatently not being answered. I opened a thread on it earlier which was closed in less than 2 minutes.

As somebody above said passing laws like this set a dangerous precedent and hopefully we hear vocal criticism from the EU. Id be concerned if we didn't.

Tail Docker

Highflyer13 wrote: »

A worrying law for an EU state to be passing. Dont really want to mention our crowd but they are shutting down debate in the Dail a lot these days which has me concerned. Questions that need answering are blatently not being answered. I opened a thread on it earlier which was closed in less than 2 minutes.

As somebody above said passing laws like this set a dangerous precedent and hopefully we hear vocal criticism from the EU. Id be concerned if we didn't.

It's like a test-bed. They test bits of sh1t in every country, then roll out the ones that don't cause ructions. Spain will get it's gag, we'll get our water charges and Portugal will get it's whatever. Then it gets rolled out as "standard" in other countries. Yeah, I know, "tinfoil hat" stuff, and "conspiracy forum thataway--->". We'll see.