Iran Wants European Law to Squelch Anti-Koran Film
REUTERS: Iran has urged the Netherlands to block a planned anti-Koran film, citing Article 10 of the European Convention on Human Rights as the legal basis for doing so. This is the latest twist in the saga surrounding the controversial film by far-right leader Geert Wilders (we’ve blogged on this before). In the letter, Iran’s Justice Minister Gholamhossein Elham asked his Dutch counterpart Ernst Hirsch Ballin to use European human rights law to stop a European from exercising one of those most basic rights. Freedom of expression has been the rallying cry of those who defended the Danish daily Jyllands-Posten for publishing the Mohammad cartoons — and republishing the most controversial one (the turban bomb) this week after a death threat against the artist who drew it.

This also raises the question of whether any protest against purported blasphemy against Islam this time might not turn out to be on the streets, as after the Danish caricatures of the Prophet Mohammad, but in the courts. European Muslim organisations brought court suits against the cartoons in Denmark and in France but lost their cases — thanks to the principle of freedom of expression. Will the Iranian letter inspire any to take the case to the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg? Nota bene — Danish imams preached calm at Friday prayers, in contrast to the imams who went to the Middle East to rally opposition to the cartoons when they first came out. Iran wants European law to squelch anti-Koran film >>> By Tom Heneghan

Mark Alexander (Paperback)
Mark Alexander (Hardback)

Gordon Brown Could Break Our Master’s Laws
THE TELEGRAPH: Gordon Brown's high-profile pledge to find an "extra 500,000 British jobs for British workers" is likely to be illegal under European law, according to a parliamentary study released today.

The promise was a key plank of the Prime Minister's "vision" to win over delegates at the Labour conference and Trades Union Congress.

However, a report by the impartial House of Commons library says that European law stipulates that workers from EU member countries must "enjoy equal treatment" when applying for jobs under European treaties signed by Labour.

"Both direct and indirect discrimination against migrant workers from the EU is prohibited," it adds. Gordon Brown's jobs vow could break EU law (more) By Robert Winnett

Mark Alexander