Sibiu, Romania. (Photo via Tudor George/Pixabay)
(CN) Romanian authorities unjustifiably sanctioned a prominent politician and Calvinist bishop from the country’s ethnic Hungarian minority for displaying flags associated with an autonomy movement at his private office building, Europe’s human rights court found on Tuesday.
In a ruling only available in French, the European Court of Human Rights said Romania violated Laszlo Tokes’ free speech rights by taking actions to force him to remove the flags outside his office. Tokes is best known as a dissident pastor who helped spark Romania’s revolution that brought down dictator Nicolae Ceausescu in 1989.