English PEN; It's About Science Too

by Victoria Ashdown

Since its inception, PEN has been committed to preventing censorship caused by the unjust libel system in England. Combining forces with Index for Censorship and Sense about Science, English PEN created The Libel Reform Campaign in an attempt to preserve freedom of speech. The libel laws in England promote an archaic system that benefits the wealthy and powerful. Pursing libel trials often costs an excess of £1 million, forcing individuals such as journalists, academics and performers to drop their appeals for justice.

A recent example of a victim of this system is Dr Ben Goldacre, a scientist and journalist. He visited South Africa in 2007 and was shocked to discover a company claiming that Antiretroviral drugs were ineffective in treating AIDS. Matthaias Rath, a German millionaire, began an advertising campaign in South Africa built on claims that lacked any firm evidence. He stated that the commonly prescribed Antiretroviral drugs should be replaced by his own brand of vitamin pills for successful treatment of the disease. On his return to England, Dr Goldacre wrote a number of articles exposing the injustice of what he saw, and was consequently sued for libel by Mr Rath. The ensuing case lasted for nineteen months, before Mr Rath dropped his charges and cost The Guardian newspaper £535,000 in legal costs. They were eventually awarded over £200,000 to compensate for their losses, but were forced to pay highly for their perusal of justice.

Another case of the negative effects of libel laws in England is that of Simon Singh, an acclaimed author and journalist. In 2008, he published an article in The Guardian newspaper stating his opinion on the British Chiropractic Association’s treatment of children. He wrote that there was ‘not a jot of evidence’ to support the treatments promoted by the BCA for younger patients. Despite publishing his article through a newspaper, Singh was sued personally by the BCA and in early 2009 the judge ruled in their favour. The court decided that Mr Singh’s claims were stated as fact, ignoring his insistence that the article was based on opinion. Therefore, it was viewed as a direct attack on the BCA and implied that they were being deliberately dishonest. However, the case was retried in a court of appeal later that year, and Mr Singh was found innocent of misconduct. As a result of the case, he was charged £20,000 in fees and lost two years of his salary.

These are just two of many cases where the right to express personal opinion is being suppressed. The Libel Reform Campaign acts to help those who are abused by this system and restore justice to our legal system. Show your support, join English PEN at Surrey at: http://www.facebook.com/SurreyEnglishPEN and sign the petition at: http://libelreform.org/.