Spain: two years in prison for incitement to hatred against Muslims on Facebook

The Provincial Court of Murcia (south-eastern Spain), sentenced a resident of Águilas to two years in prison and 600 euros fine for having published hateful messages against the Muslim community on Facebook. The facts took place between November 2018 and September 2019.

The accused, who used his real name on a public profile, broadcast many messages explicitly calling for the violence and extermination of Muslims. “These are the kind of people whose Spain has to get rid of“, He wrote in particular, accompanying his posts of particularly violent calls for murder.

This judicial decision marks the will of the Spanish courts to severely sanction the speeches of online hatred. The court notably retained the premeditation and advertising of messages as aggravating circumstances. In addition to the prison sentence and the fine, the condemned person is prohibited to exercise any professional activity in the fields of teaching, sport and leisure for five years. The accused, who recognized the facts, illustrates a disturbing phenomenon: the trivialization of hate speeches on social networks, their authors no longer hesitating to appear openly, without anonymity.