Andrew_Rens
@Andrew_Rens
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Tech Policy Law
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Joined January 2009
Doesn’t matter. Prior restraint of publication is not an ordinary interdict. It’s a serious limitation on the right to free speech. The court should not have granted it.
@dansmywholename The order temporarily interdicts publication of the facts and the order, based solely on the say-so of the company, but the court then made provision for the parties to urgently file papers in relation to the interdict.
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Update re @OpenSecretsZA Open Secrets to face armoured vehicle company in court | GroundUp
groundup.org.za
The case may have important implications for freedom of expression
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UPDATE: it appears that the company that gagged @OpenSecretsZA is an armoured vehicle manufacturer that bid for an SANDF tender last year. Case to be heard in Cape Town on 27 November: https://t.co/Sb0ZFzakIy.
groundup.org.za
The case may have important implications for freedom of expression
This is an outrage. A secretive gag order granted ex parte which not even the gagged party can talk about?!
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We cannot let this stand unchallenged. We have instructed our attorneys @webberwentzel to write to the Chief Justice and Deputy Chief Justice asking them to facilitate our application to be admitted as an amicus curiae (friend of the court) as Open Secrets challenges the order.
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On Monday, South African non-profit organisations @OpenSecretsZA announced that they are under a sweeping gag order – a court had prevented them from publishing something and from disclosing anything – absolutely anything – about it https://t.co/u1xJNtSq7y
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The court issued the order ex parte – without Open Secrets being told about the application or given an opportunity to present arguments – and in camera – completely in secret. The South African public has no way of knowing what the order prohibits.
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This is unprecedented in South Africa. No judge should be able to operate in complete secrecy, and no court should order a pre-publication ban except in extremely rare circumstances. We should know – we fought a similar gag in 2023 https://t.co/HllumSdSpv
amabhungane.org
In 2023 AmaBhungane came into possession of documents leaked from within the Moti Group of companies belonging to the flamboyant and controversial businessman Zunaid Moti. What emerged was a tale of...
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This super-interdict is a serious threat to our constitutional system, which protects freedom of expression, open justice and accountability, and it threatens the ability of the media and civil society to expose wrongdoing.
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🇿🇦 #RSA: Gagging orders that silence not just the story, but even who issued them and why should concern us all. This order against @OpenSecretsZA sets a dangerous precedent for press freedom and the constitutional right to know. @PPLAAF stands in solidarity with Open Secrets.
We have been gagged! We cannot say by who or why. Attempts to silence public-interest journalism threaten everyone’s matters of public interestt. We’ll challenge this order with our attorneys at PowerLaw Africa. More information to follow. https://t.co/ScQDsMPkEu
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This is an outrage. A secretive gag order granted ex parte which not even the gagged party can talk about?!
We have been gagged! We cannot say by who or why. Attempts to silence public-interest journalism threaten everyone’s matters of public interestt. We’ll challenge this order with our attorneys at PowerLaw Africa. More information to follow. https://t.co/ScQDsMPkEu
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Shockingly draconian: Unknown judge in unknown court gags Open Secrets from saying anything about the court in which it was given, the judge, the parties to the case, or the content of the interdict.
groundup.org.za
This appears to be the most draconian prepublication interdict we have come across
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Important letter from @webberwentzel attorneys asking the CJ and deputy CJ to facilitate information such that their clients might intervene as amici in super-interdict made against @OpenSecretsZA
Read our letter here. We will keep you updated! https://t.co/IqrZRUNNvZ
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Media Statement from 23 civil society and media organisation expressing their concern at the super-interdict against @OpenSecretsZA
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What are Strategic Lawsuits Against Public Participations suits (SLAPPs?)
We have been gagged! We cannot say by who or why. Attempts to silence public-interest journalism threaten everyone’s matters of public interestt. We’ll challenge this order with our attorneys at PowerLaw Africa. More information to follow. https://t.co/ScQDsMPkEu
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For years now Open Secrets has been uncovering secrets about pension, war, state capture, climate crisis, and grants payment profiteers. Looters of our resources! Some power is not attempting to gag them and we cannot let this happen!
We have been gagged! We cannot say by who or why. Attempts to silence public-interest journalism threaten everyone’s matters of public interestt. We’ll challenge this order with our attorneys at PowerLaw Africa. More information to follow. https://t.co/ScQDsMPkEu
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Open Secrets @OpenSecretsZA has been gagged. They can’t even say by who or why. The order is truly extraordinary in its expanse, hampering the important work of this frontline civil society actor but also endangering the public’s right to know critical information.
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Open Secrets is doing incredible work in holding corporates and private sector players accountable for corruption. They’re now facing sham lawsuits and gag orders to try and stop them. This has to stop!
We have been gagged! We cannot say by who or why. Attempts to silence public-interest journalism threaten everyone’s matters of public interestt. We’ll challenge this order with our attorneys at PowerLaw Africa. More information to follow. https://t.co/ScQDsMPkEu
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"Yet she received a penalising letter free of reasoning, justification or interpretive clarity – only a bald assertion". This is standard for #HPCSA communications, not just this one. A commission called for the @HPCSA_ to be shut down years ago. Why does it still exist?
On language, power and the Tlaleng Mofokeng misjudgment by the Health Professions Council of SA
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Fighting gag orders is expensive. To stay truly independent, we refuse corporate and government funding. Instead we rely on philanthropy and people like you. Support Open Secrets’ fight for truth and justice. Donate today. https://t.co/ScQDsMPkEu
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South Africa’s Constitution protects freedom of expression and media freedom. We assert our right—and duty—to publish fair, fact-based investigations in the public interest.
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