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21 November 2007
Madrid – The High Court on Tuesday ordered two Catalan nationalists to pay a fine of €2,730 each for burning pictures of the king and queen during a protest in the northeastern city of Girona on September 13.
Prosecutors had sought 15-month prison sentences for the two young men, Jaume Roura and Enric Stern, who stood accused of insulting the highest institution of the state. However, in his ruling, Judge José María Vázquez Honrubia said it would be better for the two to be made to pay a fine so they learn “that they can think what they want, but they cannot attack the institutions of the state.”
Roura and Stern burnt the pictures during a demonstration outside Girona city hall in protest at a visit by King Juan Carlos to the city. Their arrest triggered similar demonstrations across Catalonia that also involved the burning of images of the royal family.
[Copyright EL PAÍS, SL. 2007]
Subject: Spanish news