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Article

29 Apr 2020

Author:
Open Democracy

Fossil fuel companies get included in COVID-19 stimulus packages & are lobbying for suspension of environmental laws, as crack-down on activists & workers continues

"DemocracyWatch: journalists and dissidents arrested in COVID crackdowns", 22 Apr 2020

Journalists, activists and workers struggling to follow strict lockdown rules have been harassed, arrested and even killed across the world this week, as governments use the coronavirus crisis to roll back democracy and crack down on dissidents. And it’s not just governments taking advantage of the crisis. openDemocracy revealed this week that Brexit-supporting hedge fund managers are shorting the stock of one of the key companies making personal protective equipment in the UK... Philippines:... President Duterte has called for people violating the lockdown to be shot... Qatar Authorities rounded up and expelled dozens of migrant workers after telling them they were being taken to be tested for COVID-19, Amnesty International reported... Belarus Non-governmental groups began crowd-funding campaigns to buy protective equipment for health workers after the president, Alexander Lukashanko, continued to deny the virus... The European Central Bank purchased bonds from oil companies including Shell, ENI and Total as part of a €50 billion emergency stimulus programme... Oil companies including BP, Shell and Total are eligible for a Bank of England bond-buying scheme as part of a coronavirus stimulus programme... Canada: In a leaked letter, the largest oil and gas lobby group called for the suspension of environmental laws because of the coronavirus...