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INPRIMATU
The Spanish government withdrew: THE LIGHT WINS THE MOZAL LAW ISSUE
  • The fine imposed on Axier López, journalist of LARA, has been suspended by the Spanish Government through the Spanish representative of the Basque Country, Javier de Andrés. As a result of this media’s appeal to the fine, a trial was scheduled for March 13 in Vitoria. Without a trial, LARA will not have to pay a fine for doing journalism.
ARGIA @argia 2017ko martxoaren 07a

On March 3, 2016, LUZ was fined for reporting a street operation by the Spanish police. Since then, the Spanish government has defended for a year the sanction against LUZ and the reasons for the fine. From the total political loneliness of the PP party, they have been opposed by numerous actors: All the associations of journalists of the Basque Country and the Spanish State, many international agents for freedom of expression and free press, and the Spanish Ombudsman himself, among others.

The following tweet was intended to punish LUZ:

 
The Spanish Government prefers the Mozal Law not to go to court

In the absence of a few days to proceed with the trial, the Spanish Government has decided to give in to the case, arguing the problems of form of the fine. That is, when the case is about to go to trial, the Government alleges that it was not properly fined a year ago. After a year of defending the exact opposite, the Spanish government has preferred to yield to this specific fine rather than to see the Gag Law in question in court. They have avoided talking about the content of the fine – Article 36.23 of the Mozal Law and the right to record the police – by arguing about problems of form.

This was the first case in the Spanish State to be punished under Article 36.23 of the Mozal Law. Even the first victory against him.

Javier de Andrés, representative of the Basque Government and politician of the PP, has signed the order to suspend the fine, and therefore the trial.

Important precedent for the application of Article 36.23

Among the articles of the Mozal Law 36.23 is one of the ones that has aroused the greatest opposition. This article allows the imposition of a fine of between 601 and 30,000 euros for the dissemination of police images or personal or professional data, provided that "the security of the agent or his relatives is compromised".

The authority to examine the "appropriateness" of such photographs or data and to impose a fine is that of the police, without including a judge or other independent entity. It makes the police "the protagonist and the judge". Civil and political rights groups and most journalists ' associations have denounced this article as a violation of the right to report on the work of public officials.

The victory in this matter will be an important precedent for the police to reaffirm that engraving at work is a right of all citizens and journalists. This is also what we have proclaimed in LA LUZ, whose final proof is the series of reports "Filming the police is not a crime", created by the popular media Voz, Topatu, Ekinklik and Hala Bedi in collaboration with the Eleak/Libre movement.