BarcelonaMadrid’s High Court has dismissed the last appeal filed by the judges who signed a manifesto in support of Catalonia’s right to decide back in February 2014. The judges had requested an inquest into the surveillance operation ran on them by Spanish police following the publication of their manifesto, which ended up with their ID photos printed by Spanish daily La Razón on March 3, 2014.
The complaint that they lodged initially —as well as the appeal that has just been dismissed— argued that the newspaper had infringed upon their privacy and smeared their reputation. In its ruling —dated April 21— the court sees nothing punishable about the actions of the four police officers who gained access to the judges’ ID details. The court finds that the officers “had permission” to look up the names and surnames of the pro-referendum judges in the police database because “their superiors had instructed them to do so” and claims that there is no evidence to suggest that they meant “to publicise” the photographs.
Likewise, the court fails to see anything wrong with the decision by the Chief of the Spanish police in Barcelona who ordered the surveillance. According to the ruling, there is no proof that he “leaked” the pictures of the pro-referendum judges, which were printed together with the internal report that the Chief had instructed his subordinates to draft.
Additionally, the ruling indicates that, should the Chief be responsible for the leak, his deed would merit “disciplinary action” within the force but would never constitute “a punishable offence”. Next, the ruling endorses the publication of the photographs by La Razón’s director Francisco Marhuenda arguing that “the freedom of the press” must prevail “over other basic rights, such as honour, privacy and one’s image, provided that the news printed is factual and of public interest”, as the Madrid courts believes to be in this case.
