Friday, 04 April 2025
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** Autocrats above the law
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The headline today is clear: lawyers need lawyers. It’s frustrating to focus on the USA given the constant coverage the country already receives, but it would be negligent to overlook this issue. President Donald Trump’s attempts to target law firms that oppose his administration’s agenda are deeply troubling. Lawyers should not have to fear government retribution simply because they represent clients or work with colleagues tied to the political opposition. This is a blatant threat to the rule of law, one designed to stifle free speech.

Politico offers a thorough breakdown ([link removed]) of the situation, concluding that, for now at least, the practical consequences might seem relatively minor. The firms being targeted are so expensive that most people can’t afford their services. This isn't necessarily a comforting thought. The flipside could be argued – that only the most financially robust law firms can afford to take on an expensive battle with Trump’s administration. Many smaller firms may quietly decline controversial cases, prioritising ease over principle, and thus further narrowing access to justice.

Over in France, a different kind of danger faces lawyers following Marine Le Pen’s conviction this week. It sparked a dangerous wave of threats against the judges involved, which were so severe that President Emmanuel Macron has been forced to publicly reaffirm the independence of the judiciary, and one of the trial judges has been placed under police protection.

It is, unfortunately, a sign of the times that bears repeating: lawyers represent clients, but they do not necessarily share their views. Yet here we are, facing the reality of a world where legal professionals are increasingly seen as extensions of their clients’ beliefs, rather than independent advocates of the law – a line trotted out for years in Iran, Russia and China and now finding a home elsewhere.

“As if the coup against democracy wasn’t enough, they cannot tolerate the victims of this coup defending themselves. They want to add a legal coup to the coup against democracy,” said Istanbul’s recently jailed Mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu ([link removed]) on the arrest of his lawyer. Mehmet Pehlivan has since been released. But as Pehlivan’s own lawyer poignantly remarked, his arrest was a “warning ([link removed]) ”. For Turkey’s autocratic leader, the message is clear: beware the clients you choose. For the rest of us, the takeaway is equally urgent: if we don’t stand firm in support of the defenders of justice, the very concept of justice itself could be dismantled.

Jemimah Steinfeld

CEO, Index on Censorship


** More from Index
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From Myanmar to Sudan: The week in free expression ([link removed])

Index rounds up some of the week’s biggest stories in the global free speech landscape ([link removed])

Has Donald Trump’s hit list been inspired by Viktor Orbán’s? ([link removed])

Similarities ([link removed]) between the two leaders’ tactics suggest the US President is taking notes

The Kurdish journalists being targeted in Syria ([link removed])

Media workers in Syria have long suffered attacks by Turkish forces and extremist groups ([link removed])

President Museveni’s crackdown on Ugandan TikTokers ([link removed])

Social media spaces are shrinking as freedom of speech is further eroded in the country ([link removed])

Georgian authorities must lift restrictions imposed on HRH Tbilisi ([link removed])

Members of the Network of Human Rights Houses call for immediate stop to the investigation ([link removed])

The freedom to travel is becoming a privilege, not a right ([link removed])

Countries once considered liberal are increasingly denying dissenters entry at their borders ([link removed])

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** European SLAPP Contest 2025
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The European SLAPP Contest is back, exposing the worst offenders using legal threats to silence critics.

Think one of the nominees deserves extra recognition for their dedication to legal bullying? Vote for them in the People’s Choice Award.
VOTE NOW ([link removed])


** From elsewhere
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**
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** >> UK: ([link removed]) Met Police raid Quaker meeting over plan for non-violent protest ([link removed])
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** >> BAHRAIN: ([link removed]) Royal pardon on Eid al-Fitr excludes political prisoners ([link removed]) [link removed]
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** >> AFGHANISTAN: ([link removed]) Women’s rights activists face deportation from Pakistan ([link removed])
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** >> GAZA: ([link removed]) Hamas cracks down on protesters, killing six ([link removed])
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** >> GEORGIA: ([link removed]) Approaching one year of the controversial "foreign agent law" ([link removed])
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** Flashback
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First they came for the journalists – then they came for the lawyers and activists ([link removed])

by Somak Ghoshal ([link removed])

Index on Censorship, volume 49, issue 3 ([link removed])

“Lawyers are the bastions against violations of civil liberties. If you kill all the lawyers then there’s nobody left to speak.”

In 2020, Index on Censorship contributor Somak Ghoshal wrote about the increasing pressure on lawyers in India not to voice opposition under Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government. Read more here. ([link removed])



** Support our work
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The world is becoming more authoritarian and our work calling for the protection of lawyers and promoting freedom of expression in countries such as Syria, Uganda and the USA has never been more important.

By supporting Index on Censorship today, you can help us in our work with censored artists, jailed musicians, journalists under threat and dissidents facing torture or worse.

Please donate today ([link removed])

Photos by: (Marine Le Pen) Abaca Press / Alamy Stock Photo; (Narendra Modi) CC BY 4.0

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