Like in Venezuela! Scotland attacks fascism and neofascism through laws

Published at: 04/04/2024 03:53 PM

The Scottish parliament recently approved the Hate Crimes and Public Order Act , which came into force on Monday and aims to criminalize speech of intolerance in its various facets.

This Act expands existing legislation related to incitement to racial hatred, in force throughout the United Kingdom since 1986, by making it a crime to incite hate with threatening or abusive behavior based on characteristics such as age, disability, religion, sexual orientation, transgender identity and variations in sexual characteristics; establishing as a maximum penalty seven years.

Although this legal instrument has received strong criticism, as some sectors say it will have a frightening effect on freedom of expression, the Scottish Minister for Victims and Community Safety, Siobhian Brown, stated that the new Act will help build “safer communities that live free of hate and prejudice”.

“We know that the impact on those who receive physical, verbal or online aggression can be traumatic and life-changing (...) This law is an essential element of our broader approach to dealing with that danger.”

Recently, in the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, the Executive Vice President, Delcy Rodríguez, presented to the National Assembly (AN) the bill Against Fascism, Neofascism and Similar Expressions.

From the protocol chamber, Rodríguez specified that the project is “a very special mandate of President Nicolás Maduro” and responds to the attacks that Venezuela has received over the past 25 years, in which “expressions and actions of organizations and parties with a frankly and openly fascist tone have been expressed”.

In this regard, the deputy to the AN, Diosdado Cabello Rondón, stressed that the Bill Against Fascism and Neofascism and Other Similar Expressions “will be a legal instrument to prevent these extreme and violent currents from being reproduced in Venezuela.”

He also stressed that fascist and neofascist currents must be defeated in all fields, while adding that this Law represents a “work of love for the Fatherland, of love goes to peace, to tranquility, to help us combat that terrible evil that affects a large part of the world”.

Regarding the criticism aroused by the presentation of this project, Cabello assured that those who can oppose the approval of this project are the “fascists”, “Who screams? That's why I say that a law that condemns thieves is rejected by thieves; that condemns corruption . Who shouts it? The corrupt ones. So a law that condemns fascism, who condemns it? The fascists! Get on the side you should be on,” he said.

Mazo News Team