4 ms·

Who is getting thrown in to prison for jokes? Assange was thrown into jail for basic journalism, but that was at America's behest.

drost 5y ago
> Meechan was arrested on suspicion of breaching the Communications Act 2003.[20] On 19 March 2018, Meechan was convicted of breaching the act by Sheriff Derek O'Carroll at Airdrie Sheriff Court.[21] The court ruled that Meechan's claim that the video was a joke intended for his girlfriend "lacked credibility" as Meechan's girlfriend did not subscribe to the YouTube channel to which the video was posted. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mark_Meechan https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mark_Meechan
- hypersoar 5y ago
  > On 23 April 2018, Meechan was sentenced to a fine of £800, with no prison sentence.
  - HNo 5y ago
    >Meechan was arrested Technically if you're arrested you're thrown in jail (overnight or for a few days).
- deleted 5y ago
  [deleted]
mdp2021 5y ago
In some countries legal bases were set for imprisoning people after jokes. Cassandra Vera Paz, Spanish, aged 22 during the event, was charged in 2016 with "injury to victims of terrorism", in the context of legislation "against the praising of terrorism", after she posted jokes on twitter - the homicide through explosives of Luis Carrero Blanco, ally to General Franco, by the Basque separatist group ETA, was related to a (NASA like) "space programme". She was condemned in 2017 to spend one year in prison (plus a year of "absolute disqualification" from public offices and aid). The ruling was reversed in 2018 by the Supreme Court, which called the jokes socially and morally reprehensible but not sufficient for penal sanction. Granddaughter Lucia Carrero Blanco reportedly wrote «I’m scared of a society in which freedom of expression, however regrettable it may be, can lead to jail sentences».
- Levitz 5y ago
  So I'm actually Basque and I've gotta say this is a pretty specific scenario. This is part of a very reprehensible and long history of fighting against household terrorism, said history includes things such as torture on innocents or state terrorism. On top of that, the National Assembly has a bad reputation for pulling this kind of abusive stunts specifically when it's about "praising terrorism" and I don't think I personally know a single person who actually supports this. This is probably why the Supreme Court reversed the decision. On the other hand I do know many people who tell jokes about Carrero Blanco, or in even worse taste, Irene Villa, a journalist who lost both her legs in another attack with explosives from ETA. Remarkably Irene Villa is on record stating that she enjoys and supports jokes such as "What does Irene Villa do when her friends go and wax her legs? She varnishes hers". I believe this last bit to be relevant because no doubt that could be considered brutally offensive, literally making fun of a disabled person, but there is nobody offended here, it is, instead, recognized that humor is an important way of coping with a difficult reality, and the history of Basque terrorism is indeed a difficult one.
deleted 5y ago
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lovecg 5y ago
Depends on what you consider a “joke” I guess. In my view 2 months in jail over this seems excessive: https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-birmingham-58738771 https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-birmingham-58738771

drost 5y ago

> Meechan was arrested on suspicion of breaching the Communications Act 2003.[20] On 19 March 2018, Meechan was convicted of breaching the act by Sheriff Derek O'Carroll at Airdrie Sheriff Court.[21] The court ruled that Meechan's claim that the video was a joke intended for his girlfriend "lacked credibility" as Meechan's girlfriend did not subscribe to the YouTube channel to which the video was posted. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mark_Meechan https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mark_Meechan

hypersoar 5y ago
> On 23 April 2018, Meechan was sentenced to a fine of £800, with no prison sentence.
- HNo 5y ago
  >Meechan was arrested Technically if you're arrested you're thrown in jail (overnight or for a few days).
deleted 5y ago
[deleted]

mdp2021 5y ago

In some countries legal bases were set for imprisoning people after jokes. Cassandra Vera Paz, Spanish, aged 22 during the event, was charged in 2016 with "injury to victims of terrorism", in the context of legislation "against the praising of terrorism", after she posted jokes on twitter - the homicide through explosives of Luis Carrero Blanco, ally to General Franco, by the Basque separatist group ETA, was related to a (NASA like) "space programme". She was condemned in 2017 to spend one year in prison (plus a year of "absolute disqualification" from public offices and aid). The ruling was reversed in 2018 by the Supreme Court, which called the jokes socially and morally reprehensible but not sufficient for penal sanction. Granddaughter Lucia Carrero Blanco reportedly wrote «I’m scared of a society in which freedom of expression, however regrettable it may be, can lead to jail sentences».

Levitz 5y ago
So I'm actually Basque and I've gotta say this is a pretty specific scenario. This is part of a very reprehensible and long history of fighting against household terrorism, said history includes things such as torture on innocents or state terrorism. On top of that, the National Assembly has a bad reputation for pulling this kind of abusive stunts specifically when it's about "praising terrorism" and I don't think I personally know a single person who actually supports this. This is probably why the Supreme Court reversed the decision. On the other hand I do know many people who tell jokes about Carrero Blanco, or in even worse taste, Irene Villa, a journalist who lost both her legs in another attack with explosives from ETA. Remarkably Irene Villa is on record stating that she enjoys and supports jokes such as "What does Irene Villa do when her friends go and wax her legs? She varnishes hers". I believe this last bit to be relevant because no doubt that could be considered brutally offensive, literally making fun of a disabled person, but there is nobody offended here, it is, instead, recognized that humor is an important way of coping with a difficult reality, and the history of Basque terrorism is indeed a difficult one.

deleted 5y ago

[deleted]

lovecg 5y ago

Depends on what you consider a “joke” I guess. In my view 2 months in jail over this seems excessive: https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-birmingham-58738771 https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-birmingham-58738771