RIVADULLA DURÓ v. SPAIN DECISION
1. Conviction for public praise or justification of terrorism
28. In a case serving as a clear precedent for the present case, namely
Jorge López v. Spain ((dec.) [Committee], no. 54140/21, 20 September
2022), the Court declared the application inadmissible as manifestly
ill-founded. In that case, the applicant’s conviction was based on the findings
that his songs and videos justified and glorified terrorism, in particular, the
GRAPO terrorist group, individuals convicted of being its members, and
crimes committed by it. The songs were also found to incite hatred and enmity
on various grounds. The domestic courts found that the songs had openly
called for violent acts, communicated to the audience the idea that recourse
to violence and terrorism was justified, approved of terrorist methods and
acts, and praised attacks that had claimed many lives. The Court also
observed that those songs were easily and freely available online and had
been performed at concerts, and thus had the potential to reach a large number
of people, including those of a young age (see Jorge López, cited above,
§ 17).
29. The Court also considered that the songs could be seen as a direct or
indirect call or justification for violence, hatred or intolerance. The lyrics
directly suggested injuring or killing politicians, judges, the security forces,
the rich, the royal family and those perceived as ideological opponents.
The Court agreed that those statements went far beyond what could be
perceived as “protest songs”, as they were described by the applicant, and the
acceptable limits of criticism (see Jorge López, cited above, § 19).
30. The Court further found that the domestic courts’ assessment of the
facts had been reasonable. It concluded that the Appeals Division, in
convicting the applicant, had taken care to assess his guilt on the basis of the
criteria defined by the Court’s case-law, having regard to the requirements of
Article 10 § 2 of the Convention, and after weighing up the various interests
involved. Regarding the nature and severity of the sanctions, in the light of
the circumstances and the reasoning of the domestic courts, the Court
concluded that the applicant’s criminal conviction could not be considered
disproportionate to the legitimate aim pursued.
31. The Court’s findings in Jorge López (cited above) are fully applicable
to the case now under analysis.
32. Regarding statements that may constitute a call to violence, the Court
has regard to the following factors: (i) whether the statements were made
against a tense political or social background; (ii) whether the statements,
fairly construed and seen in their immediate or wider context, could be seen
as a direct or indirect call for violence or as a justification of violence, hatred
or intolerance; and (iii) the manner in which the statements were made, and
their capacity – direct or indirect – to lead to harmful consequences (see Jorge
López, § 16; Perinçek, §§ 204-07; and Erkizia Almandoz, §§ 40-41, all
cited above).
12
اختر الفقرة المستهدفة3
الاتصال بفقرة
Connect to an entity
Disable highlights
أضف إلى جدول المحتويات