Philipp Bues, Author at ADF International

Estonia (52th Session)

This report highlights the incompatibility of Bill 232 SE on Amendments to the Penal Code, the Code of Criminal Procedure, and the Code of Misdemeanour Procedure (hereinafter ‘hate speech bill’) with Estonia’s obligations regarding the right to freedom of opinion and expression under international law. Additionally, it examines recent developments concerning assisted suicide and underscores the urgent need for Estonia to fulfill its obligation to respect and protect the right to life, as enshrined in core international human rights treaties.

Denmark (52th Session)

This report highlights the prevalence and normalization of disability-selective abortion in Denmark, particularly in cases involving children diagnosed with Down syndrome, and the underlying discriminatory stereotypes that undermine the equal value of persons with disabilities. It also addresses emerging threats to freedom of expression posed by the criminalization of

Belgium (52th Session)

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Scottish politician seeks to criminalise “influencing” a person’s decision about assisted suicide

Scottish Green Party’s Patrick Harvie proposes a censored “buffer zone” around facilities where assisted suicides might take place, preventing family members or concerned individuals from changing a person’s mind
Move echoes abortion “buffer zones” law enacted in Scotland last year, under which a grandmother was arrested for offering a conversation

EDINBURGH (29 October 2025) – A Scottish parliamentarian and member of the Health Committee, Patrick Harvie MSP, has proposed an amendment to Scotland’s controversial “assisted suicide” bill that would criminalise discussion of suicide prevention within a large, undefined public area surrounding any building where an assisted suicide might take place.

The vague proposal would forbid any attempts to “influence” a person’s decision to undergo an assisted suicide, such as through conversation with a family member or the display of a suicide prevention poster.

"It's unthinkable that Scots should be banned on certain streets from offering hope and encouraging someone to choose life, not suicide."

- Lois McLatchie Miller, ADF International

Almost half of those who opted for assisted suicides in Oregon cited concerns about being a perceived “burden on family, friends or caregivers” as a driver for their decision to end their lives, according to public health data released in 2023.

Concerns for Free Speech

The move echoes the “buffer zones” law put in place in Scotland last year, which criminalises any attempts to “influence” a person’s decision to access abortion services within 200m of every hospital.

In August, 75-year-old grandmother Rose Docherty became the first person to be arrested under the abortion “buffer zones” law after she peacefully offered consensual conversation, holding a sign reading “Coercion is a crime, here to talk, only if you want”. The U.S. State Department condemned the arrest as “another egregious example of the tyrannical suppression of free speech happening across Europe.” ADF International is supporting her legal defence as she faces trial in December.

At the Munich Security Conference in February, U.S. Vice President J.D. Vance criticised the Scottish buffer zones law, summarising that “free speech, I fear, is in retreat”.

Reacting to Harvie’s proposal, Lois McLatchie Miller from ADF International said:

“It’s unthinkable that Scots should be banned on certain streets from offering hope and encouraging someone to choose life, not suicide.

How will this impact a doctor’s choice to have a suicide-prevention charity’s poster in their window? How will this impact important conversations between loved ones, eager to convince an elderly wife or a parent that they are not a burden, but a valuable member of the family?

“Once the principle of a censorial ‘buffer zone’ is approved for one issue, it can easily multiply to more and more issues. We’ve already seen loosely worded abortion ‘buffer zone’ rules be used to arrest a grandmother simply for offering to chat. Now the government seeks to apply the same vague, broad rules to ban speech about assisted suicide. What could be next? Banning parents from “influencing” their child outside a gender clinic? Banning dissenting speech about foreign regimes around certain embassies? Censorship is always a slippery slope.”

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PICTURED: Rose Docherty, Lois McLatchie Miller

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U.S. State Department: Arrest of Scottish Christian Grandmother is “Tyrannical”

Christian grandmother arrested a second time; criminally charged for holding a sign reading “Coercion is a crime, here to talk, only if you want” within 200m of a hospital
“The arrest of Rose Docherty is another egregious example of the tyrannical suppression of free speech happening across Europe”, warns U.S. State Department

GLASGOW (29 September 2025) – The U.S. State Department has expressed concern over the arrest of 75-year-old Rose Docherty, as seen in a viral video over the weekend.

The Glasgwegian grandmother has been criminally charged for holding a sign within 200m of the Queen Elizabeth University Hospital, reading:

“Coercion is a crime, here to talk, only if you want.”

In Scotland, “buffer zones” are enforced within 200m of every hospital, forbidding harassment, intimidation, and “influencing” of anyone seeking to access abortion services.

"The United States will always speak out against these violations of fundamental rights."

- U.S. State Department Spokesperson

Responding to the arrest, the U.S. State Department told the Telegraph:

“The arrest of Rose Docherty is another egregious example of the tyrannical suppression of free speech happening across Europe.

“When 75-year-old grandmothers are being arrested for standing peacefully and offering conversation, common sense and basic civility are under attack.

“The United States will always speak out against these violations of fundamental rights.”

Despite only having offered consensual conversation and not having approached any individual, nor making any statement on abortion – Docherty has been charged with breaching the “buffer zone.”

Reacting to her arrest, Rose Docherty said:

“Everybody has the right to engage in consensual conversation. I held my sign with love and compassion, inviting anyone who wants to chat, to do so – and stood peacefully, not approaching anyone.

“I should not be treated as a criminal for inviting people to chat with me – lending a listening ear. Conversation is not forbidden on the streets of Glasgow. And yet, this is the second time I have been arrested for doing just that.”

In August, Scottish authorities dropped their case against Docherty for holding the same sign in the same place after a global outcry against the 75-year-old grandmother’s arrest, including concerns raised in an online post by the U.S. State Department.

After her arrest this week, Docherty was held in custody for several hours. She was refused a chair to sit on in her cell, despite making it known that she had a double hip replacement.

Docherty has been charged and released on bail. Stringent bail conditions prevent her from attending an area marked out to be wider than the initial “buffer zone” area, in a move the legal team at ADF International call “disproportionate”.

Legal Counsel for ADF International, Lorcan Price commented:

“It’s deeply concerning that Scottish policing resources are being ploughed into arresting and prosecuting a peaceful grandmother offering to speak to people in public, rather than focusing on the problems caused by real crime in Glasgow.

“This is not a case about harassment, intimidation or violent protest – this is simply a grandmother, who held a sign offering to speak to anyone who would like to engage.”

The law’s architect, Gillian Mackay MSP, admitted on BBC Scotland earlier this year that the vague prohibitions in the buffer zones law could criminalise someone for praying visibly from a window in their home within the zone, “depending on who’s passing by the window.”

U.S. Vice President J.D. Vance highlighted this law as a particular matter for concern in his Munich Security Conference speech in February of this year.

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Pictured: Rose Docherty, Lorcan Price (ADF International)

free speech freedom of speech UK

Glasgow Grandmother arrested AGAIN for offering conversations in abortion “buffer zone”

Christian grandmother arrested a second time; criminally charged for holding a sign reading “Coercion is a crime, here to talk, only if you want” within 200m of a hospital
Rose Docherty, aged 75, left without chair for two hours in a police cell – despite having two hip replacements

GLASGOW (27 September 2025) – 75-year-old grandmother Rose Docherty has been arrested a second time and criminally charged for holding a sign within 200m of the Queen Elizabeth University Hospital, reading:

“Coercion is a crime, here to talk, only if you want.”

In Scotland, “buffer zones” are enforced within 200m of every hospital, forbidding harassment, intimidation, and “influencing” of anyone seeking to access abortion services.

“I should not be treated as a criminal for inviting people to chat with me – lending a listening ear."

- Rose Docherty

Despite only having stood silently offering consensual conversation and not having approached any individual, Docherty has been charged with breaching the “buffer zone.”