The Prosecutor's Office does not see a crime in the hoaxes against the Government for the management of covid-19 disseminated by social networks

Image of coffins from a shipwreck in Lampedusa (Italy) in 2013, used in the cyberbulb. EFE

The Prosecutor's Office of the National Court has shelved the investigation proceedings opened in April on an alleged crime of insults and slander to the Government.

The complaint, which came from the United We Can parliamentary group, had its origin in the dissemination through social networks and instant messaging of photographs and information that could be manipulated in order to impute irregular actions to the Executive and withhold information from the public. on the effects of the coronavirus pandemic.

In the file document of the Prosecutor's Office, advanced by eldiario.es, it is explained that in the complaint it was argued that the dissemination of these messages would have the objective of alarming the population and causing certain public services in charge of providing assistance to the citizens will act.

The hoaxes published included the dissemination of a photograph in which dozens of coffins appear under the acronym of PSOE and a reference to the covid-19 and with the legend "the photo for which dozens of police and health workers are being investigated" .

The United We can report pointed out that this photograph corresponds to a tragedy that occurred in Lampedusa years ago.

The parliamentary group also denounced the dissemination of a video in which corpses were seen stacked in bags and it was said that the images were from the Ramón y Cajal hospital in Madrid, when it really belonged to a recording of the Guayaquil hospital (Ecuador).

The complaint classified the acts constituting a crime against the high institutions of the State, public disorder and integration into a criminal organization.

However, the Public Ministry understands that they do not constitute a crime and "enjoy the protection of the fundamental right to freedom of expression."

The Prosecutor's Office emphasizes that, although it is aware of the reprehensible aspects of these tweets, "it considers the constitutional imperative of respect for freedom of expression that prevents the drawing of criminal conclusions."

It underlines that these messages can be interpreted as a product of critical intentionality in the political field towards the people who hold public office, and insists in the letter that the facts do not constitute a crime of insults and slander to the Government, since in reality both messages they are "mere critical manifestations against the government's action as a result of its management of the pandemic."

The public prosecutor points out that the fact that the images do not correspond to the current tragedy, "is not a relevant piece of information when considering the facts as constituting an injury."

And it goes further, stating that however, "in essence they do respond to the officially verified reality, which is that in our country thousands of citizens are dying as a result of the virus."

“In other words, the photography and video that accompany the criticisms of the Government may not really correspond to exact images of the current tragedy, but the image does obey the reality of the enormous number of deaths that forced the Community of Madrid to enable funeral homes on ice rinks ”, the prosecutor's letter states.