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States must not refuse entry as punishment for peacefully-held political opinions

Strasbourg, 12.03.2012 - Restrictions on an individual’s movement – such as a visa ban or refusing entry to a country – should never be used as a sanction for holding “peacefully-held political opinions”, PACE’s Legal Affairs Committee has said in a draft resolution adopted today in Paris.

Approving a report by Haluk Koç (Turkey, SOC), the committee said that EU countries, in particular, should not “misuse” the Schengen Information System to keep out non-EU nationals because of their peacefully-held political positions.