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19 January 2005
ARONA — The presenter and bosses of one of Spain’s most popular television programmes have been fined EUR 15,000 for humiliating a mentally disabled man as part of the show.
Cronicas Marcianas (Martian Chronicles) is a national institution in Spain and has come to symbolise the low-standards of the nation’s television, called telebasura (rubbish television).
It features shouting guests, strip-shows and Z-list celebrities.
A judge in Arona in Tenerife in the Canary Islands has ruled its star presenter Javier Sarda, one of the regular guests Javier Cardenas, and Telecinco, which produces the programme, must pay EUR 15,000 for humiliating J. Cristo Hernandez.
The court ruled the presenters and guests violated the rights of Hernandez in a programme in October 2002.
Hernandez, who is mentally disabled, was made an object of ridicule and the audience laughed at him during an interview recorded on the island.
Afterwards, according to a lawyer acting for him, he became depressed and stayed in his house for months.
His family had claimed EUR 300,000 in damages.
But Telecino opted to pay EUR 15,000 in damages and must report the ruling on the programme.
[Copyright EFE with Expatica]
Subject: Spanish news