Hate crimes

The Supreme Court (TS) has examined the case of a European Parliament member who, through a social network, shared a confidential police report on robberies that occurred in Bilbao. Along with the data, he accompanied the message with comments suggesting that many of the detainees had a foreign origin, which triggered a wave of racist comments on the platform.

Faced with the controversy, the TS clarifies that, although this type of publication may be disturbing or generate social rejection, not every comment about the nationality of alleged criminals constitutes a hate crime. According to the TS decision, for acts like these to be considered a criminal offense, it is necessary that they actually incite hatred, violence or a real risk to coexistence and the security of the mentioned groups.

In this case, the TS emphasizes that they limited the publication to statistical and official data, without explicit expressions that directly incited hatred or violence. They did not even generate, in the eyes of the judges, a relevant abstract danger. Therefore, the ruling makes it clear that the law must be applied strictly and not criminalize opinions or annoying information, as long as they are not accompanied by calls to hatred or aggression.

In conclusion, the message from the TS is that penalization for hate crimes should be reserved for the most serious cases that could actually endanger the freedom and security of individuals, and not for speeches that, while not exemplary, do not cross that red line.

In the face of actions resulting from events that could constitute a criminal offense, our lawyers are at your disposal to defend your rights