Legal Commentary

Thugs Suppress Screening of ?Documentary That Critiques Iran?s Nuclear Weapons Program?

By Eugene Volokh

The National Post (Canada) reports:

After receiving threats and two suspicious letters Tuesday, the National Archives of Canada cancelled the screening of a controversial documentary that critiques Iran?s nuclear weapons program, a move that has organizers questioning the national library?s autonomy.

The Free Thinking Film Society?s showing of Iranium prompted so many complaints ? some of them from the Iranian Embassy ? that staff thought it necessary to close the entire building at 396 Wellington St. in Ottawa, just steps from the Supreme Court of Canada and Parliament Hill at 4:45 p.m., said archives spokeswoman Pauline Portelance.

?Once we started to receive threats from the public and threats of public protest, we deemed the risk associated with the event was a little too high,? she said....

By 7 p.m., the letters were cleared and considered ?not suspicious at all.?

Even still, organizers were furious to see their event barred from the National Archives, a regular venue for the ?libertarian, conservative? society that regularly screens films about democracy and current affairs....

Behavior that gets rewarded gets repeated. Thanks to Yair Rosenberg for the pointer.

Full post as published by The Volokh Conspiracy on January 19, 2011 (boomark / email).