Unfree speech

News in Brief

Former Greek finance minister Yanis Varoufakis was banned from entering Germany in April to stop him giving a speech at the Palestine Congress in Berlin.

On 12 April, 930 German police officers were sent to shut down the three-day event as it began. The congress had been organised by Jewish Voice for a Just Peace in the Middle East and the German branch of DiEM25, the left-wing European movement.

Varoufakis and other banned speakers were told that appearing at the congress by live online video or through a video recording would break the law and could result in a year in prison.