首页
外语
计算机
考研
公务员
职业资格
财经
工程
司法
医学
专升本
自考
实用职业技能
登录
外语
The arrest of a man for allegedly posting a picture of a burning poppy(People wear poppy to memorize those who died in the two w
The arrest of a man for allegedly posting a picture of a burning poppy(People wear poppy to memorize those who died in the two w
admin
2015-01-09
32
问题
The arrest of a man for allegedly posting a picture of a burning poppy(People wear poppy to memorize those who died in the two world wars)online on Remembrance Sunday has been condemned by civil liberties activists, amid growing concern about threats to freedom of speech. The 19-year-old from Canterbury, named locally as Linford House, was questioned by Kent Police yesterday on suspicion of an offence under the Malicious Communications Act.
Freedom-of-speech campaigners accused the police of using the law to arrest a man for merely causing offence. Leading human rights lawyer John Cooper QC offered to represent the teenager free of charge should the matter come to court.
Tim Minchin was among the comedians to speak out in favour of the arrested man’s right to cause offence yesterday. He said: "You’vem a right to burn a(fake!)poppy. Whether I agree with the action is utterly irrelevant. Kent Police are out of line."
Mr. House’s arrest was dubbed "poppycock" by many discussing the issue online. Nick Pickles, director of Big Brother Watch , said the arrest was "utterly ridiculous". He said: "Kent Police need to release this man and drop an utterly ridiculous investigation into something that has harmed no one."
"It is not illegal to offend people and, however idiotic or insensitive the picture may have been, it is certainly not worthy of arrest.
"The case highlights the urgent need to reform a law that poses a serious risk to freedom of speech after several ludicrous prosecutions in recent months. "
The teenager is alleged to have posted the image of a poppy being burned with a cigarette lighter on Facebook, along with a caption which read: "How about that you squadey c—(insulting words)."
Mr. Cooper QC told The Independent: "Freedom of speech is not just the freedom to say nice things, it is the freedom to say obnoxious and distasteful things as well. What we have here, is a stupid and foolish young man making an obnoxious gesture. But to potentially criminalise him and to arrest him is disproportionate and dangerous to the very fundamental freedom of speech.
There seems to be a growing intolerance and a particular intolerance to comments made on social media. It is almost as if certain sections of society- the police—are trying to send out unwarranted heavy-handed signals which are an affront to the very rights that we hold dear.
In March last year, Emdadur Choudhury, a member of Muslims Against Crusades(MAC), was fined £ 50 after burning replica poppies on the anniversary of Armistice Day. Choudhury had denied a charge under Section 5 of the Public Order Act of burning the poppies in a way that was likely to cause "harassment, harm or distress" to those who witnessed it. "But he was guilty of a ’calculated and deliberate’ insult to the dead and those who mourn them when he burned two large plastic poppies during a two-minute silence on 11 November," a district judge sitting at Belmarsh magistrates’ court said.
A spokeswoman for the Royal British Legion declined to comment on the investigation in Kent. Kent Police said in a statement: "Officers were contacted at around 4 p. m.(on Sunday)and alerted to the picture, which was reportedly accompanied by an offensive comment." After an investigation by Kent Police, a 19-year-old Canterbury man was arrested and he has been interviewed by detectives and released on police bail, pending.
What does the word "obnoxious" in Paragraph Eight mean?
选项
A、Angry.
B、Disagreeable.
C、Foolish.
D、Dangerous.
答案
B
解析
语义题。由题干直接定位至第八段。该段两处提到此词。根据上下文语境“say obnoxious anddistasteful things”,“young man making an obnoxious gesture”可以判断该词和distasteful的意思相近,故选[B]。
转载请注明原文地址:https://kaotiyun.com/show/TudO777K
0
专业英语八级
相关试题推荐
Somepeoplebelievethatuniversitystudentsshouldberequiredtoattendclassestoguaranteeacademicperformance.Othersbeli
Educatorsareseriouslyconcernedaboutthehighrateofdropoutsamongthedoctorsofphilosophycandidatesandtheconsequent
A、goodhealthcareandotherservicesB、fewerandfewerchallengesandpressuresC、moreinternationaldiscussionsbetweencountr
Theconcernthroughouttheworldin1988forthosethreewhalesthatwerelockedintheArcticicewasdramaticproofthatwhale
Duringthereignof______,WaleswasbroughtunderEnglishrule.
UltimoVargashadbeeninHatch,NewMexico,onlysixmonths,sinceMarch,andalreadyheownedhisownbusinesstocompetewith
A、Everyonehastheaccesstoleadership.B、Leaderscreatetheworstworksituation.C、Bookscanhelptoimprovepeople’ability
Healthyadultstakeapproximately10-14breathsperminute,butsomepeoplebreathe20ormoretimes—thiscanleadtofeeling
FormostofAmericanhistory,businesseswereruntoprovidelivelihoodsand"reasonable"profit.Inthelastfewdecades,thou
RecyclingTheconceptofgreenconsumerismhasgainedmomentumoverthelastdecade,andthepublichasbeeninfluencedand
随机试题
自然铜和苏木的共同功效是()。
下列哪些行为,若其给商业秘密的权利人造成重大损失的,构成侵犯商业秘密罪?
根据国际贸易惯例,一般依()来计算佣金。
律诗的基本特点有()。
环境是一个复杂的大系统。一旦发生问题,再来治理,非但费事、费时、劳民伤财,而且,有些环境问题难以逆转,甚至是不可逆转。因而,“先发展,后治理”的观点不仅是片面的,而且是危险的。这段话主要支持了这样的一种观点()。
2013年9月7日上午,国家主席习近平在哈萨克斯坦纳扎尔巴耶夫大学作重要演讲,提出共同建设“丝绸之路经济带”。下列关于丝绸之路经济带的表述,错误的是()。
材料一十九大报告深刻揭示了推进生态文明建设的重大意义。大会报告对环境保护和生态文明建设提出了许多新的要求、新的部署、新的目标。把“坚持人与自然和谐共生”列为构成新时代坚持和发展中国特色社会主义的十四条基本方略之一。建设新时代社会主义生态文明,对我们每一个
Thedemoralizingenvironment,decrepit(老朽的)buildingandminimalmaterialsmakethehighschoolexperienceforthesechildrenan
Schoolsofeducationhavelongbeenobjectsofcriticism.FromJamesKoerner’s1963book,TheMiseducationofAmerica’sTeachers
TheGreekshaveasecondBattleof.Marathonontheirhands.TheiradversariesthistimearenotinvadingPersians,asin490B.
最新回复
(
0
)