Buying Silence: The Rise of Lawfare (Incl. Against Catalan Politicians)

In this session, lawyers David Hooper and Jorge Angell will discuss the growth of Lawfare – where  states, oligarchs, kleptocrats, fraudsters and politicians from Russia, the former Soviet Republics, the USA, Malta, Germany, Sweden and Malaysia use the law, their financial muscle and criminal means to try to silence their critics.  This is the aggressive world of SLAPP actions.    Victims are writers, investigative journalists, newspapers and the general public. David Hooper will describe what it is like to be the victim of hacking and a SLAPP action and how research  shows that hacking and the use of Pegasus has increased. Jorge Angell will explain the importance of the legal actions against Catalan politicians for an alleged conspiracy to break up the Spanish territory and secure independence for Catalonia.