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Free speech group says the university’s decision to cancel the event ‘incentivizes similar behavior in the future’

The Armenian Students’ Association at UC Berkeley recently accused the university of “censorship” after it postponed a documentary screening about the Armenian conflict with Azerbaijan in April when Azerbaijani students complained.

University officials pushed back on the claim, telling The College Fix the decision to postpone was based on security concerns and logistics.

However, Jessie Appleby with the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression told The Fix that “capitulating to outside pressure to cancel an event is unwise and only incentivizes similar behavior in the future.”

The documentary “My Sweet Land” is about an 11-year-old boy displaced in the 2020 conflict between Azerbaijan and Armenia. The screening, co-hosted by the UC Berkeley Armenian Students’ Association, was supposed to take place on April 24, Armenian Genocide Remembrance Day.

However, the university “abruptly” canceled the event “after pressure from the Azerbaijani government,” the association wrote in a statement on Instagram.

Describing the decision as “censorship,” the group stated, “This was not a matter of safety. This was a matter of silencing Armenian voices.”

Law students pursuing master’s degrees at Berkeley Law through “full scholarships funded by the Azerbaijani government” also had a part in advocating for the cancellation of the event, according to the Daily Californian.

In an email to the university’s Human Rights Center, which originally planned to host the event, they wrote, “The screening of this movie on a specific date aimed to accuse Azerbaijan of genocide and nothing else.”

However, UC Berkeley Law spokesperson Alex Shapiro told The Fix the decision to postpone was logistical.

“The Human Rights Center postponed the planned screening and discussion of My Sweet Land due to limited staff capacity and the need to ensure appropriate support for public events,” he said in a recent email.

Shapiro said the “decision was not related to the event, the film, or its content and viewpoint. The postponement was necessary due to logistical constraints, staff availability, and the need to comply with important policies governing the use of law school spaces.”

However, according to the Daily Californian, the event was canceled following an email from Gasim Shirinli, spokesperson for the Consulate General of Azerbaijan, to the Human Rights Center.

Shirinli confirmed the leaked message in an email with the student newspaper, as well as his statement that the documentary “misuses” children to sustain conflict between Azerbaijan and Armenia.

When contacted by The Fix, Betsy Popken, executive director of the Human Rights Center, said, “Foreign governments do not influence the events we produce.”

Rather, Popken said the letter from Shirinli contributed to an understanding that “there were likely to be protests [at the screening], including gruesome signs.”

She told The Fix that the center does not “shy away from controversial events,” but the likelihood of protesters means extra staff is required — even if campus police are present.

“Student safety is our highest priority,” Popken said.

Popken also cited “the last-minute timing” of the event as the reason for the lack of available staff.

Meanwhile, Appleby with FIRE told The Fix that the Human Rights Center “has the legal authority to cancel or postpone its own event if it wishes to do so.”

However, she told The Fix that when a student group hosts an event, “the First Amendment obligates the university to protect the expressive rights of students, faculty, and invited guests to speak and listen.”

This means that “when critics threaten to disrupt an event or speaker, the university must make ‘bona fide efforts’ to protect the speaker’s or event host’s expressive rights (and the audience’s right to listen) rather than canceling the event,” Appleby said.

In response to threats, the university must take the least restrictive actions with respect to the speaker’s First Amendment rights, Appleby said. “That usually means providing the security required to prevent disruption or violence or to remove the disruptive individuals before resorting to more serious actions that alter the planned event, such as cancellation or postponement.”

Appleby referenced “countless cases” in which FIRE has been involved, where universities cancel events or speakers in response to outside pressure or threatened disruption. She also referenced FIRE’s deplatforming database, tracking such incidents.

FIRE also commented on the Daily Californian’s article on X, writing that while the Human Rights Center “said neither the film’s content nor the Azerbaijani government had a role in the decision … the paper trail says otherwise.”

“Leaked emails reveal the Azerbaijani consulate pressured HRC to cancel the screening. Adding to the controversy, three law students on full scholarships funded by Azerbaijan also worked to halt the event,” FIRE wrote.

After cancelling the event, Popken said the Human Rights Center met several times with leaders of the ASA and the executive director of the Armenian Studies Program “to listen to their concerns and answer their questions.”

According to Popken, the center shared in those meetings that it “would have welcomed rescheduling the screening this semester, but it was not possible … to book a room before April 30 because rooms become unavailable as students begin taking final exams.”

The screening is rescheduled for Sept. 18. However, the Armenian Students’ Association hosted an independent screening of the documentary on April 24, according to the Daily Californian.

Popken said the center “apologized for the hurt and pain that [it] caused students and members of the Armenian community.” The center also released a statement on Instagram emphasizing its decision was based on “a security issue.”

She also said the center understands why the Armenian students were upset by the decision.

She said the center is “terribly sorry for the pain that our decision to postpone the film screening, which was to be held on Armenian Genocide Remembrance Day, caused Armenian students and the broader community.”

“Please know that our decision was made to ensure the safety of students and other attendees who would be present at the film screening,” Popken said.

The Fix also reached out to the UC Berkeley Armenian Students’ Association, asking for its perspective on the cancellation and updates to the situation. However, the organization did not respond to multiple emails sent in the past week.

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IMAGE CAPTION AND CREDIT: A page on the UC Berkeley website announces the postponement of a documentary screening event; UC Berkeley

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