CRIMINALISATION OF SOLIDARITY French court acquits seven activists from charges of facilitating irregular migration The French court of appeal of Grenoble has acquitted the “seven of Briançon”, seven activists who were convicted of facilitating irregular migration. The seven were convicted in December 2018 by the Criminal Court of Gap of “facilitating the irregular entry of foreign nationals” into France because they had participated in a peaceful demonstration, marching in solidarity with migrants from Clavière, in Italy to the French town of Briançon. The prosecutor had accused them that the march, which was organised in response to a far-right, xenophobic protest organised by Génération Identitaire, was used to cover the passage of some undocumented migrants, which the court of appeal later found to be a groundless charge. European civil society increasingly under threat, new report reveals Civil society organisations across the EU are increasingly under threat, reveals a report published by the EU Agency for Fundamental Rights. Out of the 400 human rights civil society organisations consulted by the Agency, 57% have seen their work conditions deteriorated during the pandemic. Civil society organisations working on migration were found amongst the most affected by the pandemic restrictions. The report also shows that 40% of the consulted organizations received verbal threats online, 33% reported smear campaigns and 10% experienced legal harassment in 2020. Many organizations indicated difficulties in exercising their rights to freedom of assembly (29%), freedom of expression (25%) and freedom of association (18%).