Ex-Trump ambassador claims more people jailed in UK for free speech than Russia

A former ambassador under Donald Trump's first administration has claimed that the UK jails more people for exercising free speech than Russia.

Carla Sands, former US ambassador to Denmark, interrupted BBC Newsnight host Victoria Derbyshire to declare that more people are in prison for "speaking what they thought was right or had interest online" in the UK than in all of Vladimir Putin's nation.

Article 10 of the Human Rights Act, applicable to England, Scotland, and Wales, protects the right to hold opinions and express them freely without government interference.

Public authorities may restrict this right if they can show that their action is lawful, necessary and proportionate in order to protect concerns such as national security or prevent disorder or crime.

In Russia, anti-war activists have been jailed and detained.