Free speech being eroded

Sir, -What if I told you that someone has been convicted in a court of law for a joke?

Would you assume this to have taken place on foreign shores? Perhaps China or Iran?

I’m afraid not. Glasgow Sheriff Court has found a man called Markus Meechan guilty of being ‘grossly offensive’.

The crime? Uploading a video to Youtube of himself annoying his girlfriend by teaching her pet dog, a pug called Buddha, to give the Hitler salute.

I am not asking for you to find the joke funny or clever – other people like John Cleese and Mel Brooks have ridiculed the Third Reich so much better.

What I am asking is for this conviction to be seen for what it is – a massive and alarming overstep by the authorities that is antithetical to a liberal democracy.

This is an attack on freedom of speech and the rights of the individual.

In fact, it goes to the heart of what we need to value as a nation.

The right to speak our minds without state interference is crucial and requires more protection.

This ruling is a source of national embarrassment and represents a danger to the country’s citizens.

Mr Meechan is to be sentenced on April 23 on the back of shoddy and vague legislation that needs to be torn up.

I urge people to write to their local MP voicing their opposition to this injustice.

The right to free speech and the unrealistic expectation to never be offended can not coexist. Gordon Brown. 2 West Dunkenny Cottages, Eassie, Forfar.