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<P><BIG><I>“Thanks a lot . . . [We] couldn’t have done this without your
support!” - Activist Veronika Feicht from the Munich Environmental Institute
with a message to the WeMove Europe community [1]</I></BIG></P></CENTER>
<P><STRONG><BIG></BIG></STRONG> </P>
<P><STRONG><BIG>With thousands of us supporting them, activists fought back
against their local government and the rich food industry and
won! </BIG></STRONG></P>
<P><BIG>They spoke up against the use of pesticides in Northern Italy, famous
for its apples. But the local government and the food industry - who are not
used to being challenged - weren’t going to accept this. </BIG></P>
<P><BIG>With millions of euros at stake, <STRONG>they were willing to do
anything to protect profits at the expense of our health. </STRONG>So they
brought more than 1,300 lawsuits to intimidate and silence local activists.
[2] </BIG></P>
<P><BIG>This is when <STRONG>our community stepped in. </STRONG>The quiet
mountain region of South Tyrol relies heavily on tourism and absolutely hates
bad publicity. They were not used to seeing European people power in action. So
<STRONG>we organised a protest and spread our message in multiple languages,
attracting a lot of attention and bringing bad press to South Tyrol.</STRONG>
[3]</BIG></P>
<P><BIG><STRONG>Earlier this month, courts in Northern Italy dropped the last
remaining lawsuit.</STRONG> [4] This result shows that <STRONG>when we come
together we can help local activists stand up to governments and
companies.</STRONG></BIG></P>
<P><BIG><STRONG>But this win isn’t just about a few activists in Northern Italy.
</STRONG>It’s about stopping intimidating lawsuits across Europe. And
<STRONG>it’s about everyone in Europe being able to take on decision makers
without being bullied into silence. </STRONG></BIG></P>
<P><BIG>And the person who could stop these lawsuits in Europe took notice, the
Vice-President of the European Commission, Vera Jourová. She publicly showed
support for our win. [5] And we hope this victory gives her the momentum to
ensure the EU protects activists from intimidating lawsuits. [6]</BIG></P>
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alt='Screenshot of tweet by Věra Jourová stating "Glad to see this example of #antiSLAPP ruling in a cross-border case. We need more awareness about the dangers of abusive litigation against #journalists and civil society and strong safeguards to neutralize the harmful effects on public participation."'
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<P><BIG>When <STRONG>activists </STRONG>contacted us<STRONG> back in 2020,
</STRONG>they were <STRONG>filled with panic and anxiety.</STRONG> They could
face huge fines and were scared about taking on a government and a rich
industry. Now, there is a sense of relief that justice was done. <STRONG>Today,
we can celebrate that when we come together, no one is too big to take on.
Justice can prevail! </STRONG></BIG></P>
<P><BIG>With pride,<BR>David (London), Giulio (Rome) and the entire WeMove
Europe team</BIG></P>
<P> </P>
<P><BIG>P.S. When needed, this community comes together to support local
activists, like those in Northern Italy fighting to keep pesticides out of our
food. Today those activists can criticise the government and the apple industry
without fear. This win took two years. And our ability to stay in these fights
comes from small donations from this community. When thousands of us chip in
just a little each, it adds up to the resources needed for change. So will you
chip in to make sure we can continue to support local activists? <STRONG><A
href="https://www.wemove.eu/sites/all/modules/civicrm/extern/url.php?u=317302&qid=358179361"
rel=nofollow>Donate now</A></STRONG></BIG></P>
<P> </P>
<P><SMALL>References:<BR>[1] Earlier this month, activists stood outside a
courtroom in Northern Italy after a huge win for freedom of expression and in
the fight to stop pesticides.<BR>[2] Many European companies, powerful
individuals and governments have started using intimidating and costly lawsuits
to stop freedom of expression. These lawsuits are often referred to as Strategic
Lawsuits against Public Participation or SLAPPs. These damaging suits chill free
speech and healthy debate by targeting those who communicate with their
government or speak out on issues of public interest. SLAPPs are used to silence
and harass critics by forcing them to spend money to defend these baseless
suits. See, https://anti-slapp.org/what-is-a-slapp<BR>[3]
https://www.slowfood.com/do-pesticides-poison-freedom-of-expression/<BR>[4]
https://www.the-case.eu/southtyrol-pesticide-slapp<BR>https://organic-market.info/news/pesticide-trial-in-south-tyrol-ends-with-acquittal.html<BR>[5]
https://twitter.com/VeraJourova/status/1524439185511362560<BR>[6]
https://www.theguardian.com/media/2022/apr/27/eu-announces-plans-protect-journalists-vexatious-lawsuits-anti-slapp
</SMALL></P>
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who call Europe our home,<BR>no matter where we were born, where we live or who
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<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial; BACKGROUND: #e4e4e4; font-color: black"
align=left><B>From:</B> <A title=info@wemove.eu
href="mailto:info@wemove.eu">David - WeMove Europe</A> </DIV>
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial" align=left><B>Sent:</B> Monday, May 30, 2022 5:23
PM</DIV>
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial" align=left><B>Subject:</B> We won!</DIV>
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