European Court: Sentence for protest in Catholic church violated free-expression rights of abortion activist
October 17, 2022
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CWN Editor's Note: The European Court of Human Rights has ruled that a French court violated an abortion activist’s freedom of expression. The court had imposed a one-month suspended sentence after the woman exposed herself in front of the altar at the Church of Saint-Marie-Madeleine in Paris.
“The purpose of the applicant’s mise en scène had been to convey, in a symbolic place of worship, a message relating to a public and societal debate on the positioning of the Catholic Church on a woman’s right to free disposal of her body, including the right to have an abortion,” the Court stated. “The applicant’s freedom of expression should have been afforded a sufficient level of protection since the content of her message related to a matter of public interest.”
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