Mc Libel Duo told by EU that the UK breached their rights.

international | crime and justice | other press

Tuesday February 15, 2005 13:23

by an admiring mac

Helen Steel and David Moris went through Hell, and inspired millions. Well done! ole! Basta!

the Mc Libel duo are two of the most significant activists in the development of a movement which grew from a little cupboard office to a global assault on the politics and economics of trans-national malnutrition, exploitation, disregard for the environment, labour abuses, greed and corporate negligence and deceit which was best represented in the 1980s by the Mc Donalds food corp amongst others.

The European Court of Human Rights ruled Tuesday that two vegetarian activists convicted of defaming fast-food giant McDonald’s Corp., did not receive a fair trial in Britain.
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The Strasbourg, France-based court ruled that David Morris and Helen Steel should have received legal aid from the British government. It awarded them US$25,934 and US$19,450.5, respectively.
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Morris and Steel were found guilty of libeling McDonald’s in 1997 and were ordered to pay damages of 40,000 British pounds (US$71,000) and 36,000 British pounds (US$64,000), respectively, for handing out leaflets attacking the company’s working practices and policies.
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The much-publicized trial, widely known as the ’McLibel’ case, lasted 313 court days and was the longest in English history.
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At a hearing at the European Court in September, lawyers for the pair argued that their clients due process rights had been violated because English courts did not make legal help available, and that the entire proceedings infringed on their right to freedom of expression.
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During the original trial, the two Londoners were unemployed or in low-wage jobs, and at the time, English courts did not provide government lawyers for defendants in libel cases.
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Their lawyers also claimed the pair’s human rights were violated because English law put the burden of proof upon them to justify every word of the allegations against McDonald’s in leaflets they distributed but did not write.
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The trial judge ruled in 1997 that the two had slandered U.S.-based McDonald’s by distributing leaflets entitled ‘‘What’s wrong with McDonald’s? Everything they don’t want you to know.’’
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The judge found that some claims in the pamphlet — including that the company was to blame for starvation in the Third World or that its food caused cancer — were untrue. But he also found McDonald’s ‘‘culpably responsible’’ for animal cruelty and for exploiting children through its advertising.
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An appeals court upheld much of the original judgment in 1999 but reduced the amount of damages awarded.
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The activists brought their case to the European court, arguing that their human rights had been violated by England’s legal system.

see links-

http://www.thelawyer.com/cgi-bin/item.cgi?id=114084&d=122&h=24&f=46
http://www.abc.net.au/news/newsitems/200502/s1303598.htm
http://www.guardian.co.uk/food/Story/0,2763,1415031,00.html
http://news.scotsman.com/latest.cfm?id=4134861
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/4266741.stm
http://212.2.162.45/news/story.asp?j=133709340&p=y337yxx46&n=133710100
http://www.keralanext.com/news/indexread.asp?id=116299
http://www.rte.ie/news/2005/0215/mcdonalds.html

A new generation have grown up to watch "Super size me" (see search engine to left of your screen) and thousands have taken on Mc donalds in varying acts of protest ranging in effectiveness, but no-one deserves as much praise for their bravery and consistency and courage in taking on not only the food corp, but its lawyers and henchmen, its stockholders, the legal systems of both the USA and UK and all that entails since the printing and distribution of their 1984 pamphlet.

It was 21 years ago.
it was a key to the door.

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Comments (6 of 6)

RTE report

by sweetvictory

Tue Feb 15, 2005 14:15

at link

correction fuss started in 1994 as in "ninety four" - not 1984 as written above.

by :-)

Tue Feb 15, 2005 17:44

obsessed with 1984 me.

rebuttal the fuss did start in 1984.

by ;-)

Tue Feb 15, 2005 18:40

you looking for an argument or what?
http://www.rte.ie/news/2005/0215/mcdonalds.html

beg to differ, but the real fuss started in 1995.

by .-)

Tue Feb 15, 2005 18:43

go on read a link other than RTE, read the author of the McLibel book, John Vidal's comment (there hasn't been a movie yet) on the case-
http://www.guardian.co.uk/food/Story/0,2763,1415183,00.html

you typical anarchists couldn't organise an argument if given two hours free legal advice.

by !-)

Tue Feb 15, 2005 18:46

there has been a movie.
http://www.mclibel.com/film/vdo/index.htm

curious little news item.

by curious

Tue Feb 14, 2006 12:18

As we know McD's are a focus for energy. But the first one has been burnt over cartoons which is an interesting variation on the much loved theme. Yesterday police in Lahore, Pakistan facing yet another day of angry protesters (they've protested every day since the republication of the "muhumad cartoons") (they've also had bombs and real grief too and lots of death) used tear gas to deter protesters attacking the EU embassies. The protesters burnt both Mc Donalds and Kentucky fried Chicken.

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Mc Libel Duo told by EU that the UK breached their rights.

Comments (6 of 6)