Jair Domínguez “shoot” the King of Spain

EUROPEAN MEDIA LAW ACTUAL WINDOW by Oriol Salvador

JAIR DOMÍNGUEZ “shoot” THE KING OF SPAIN

(Bestiari Il·lustrat, Canal 33, 09/10/2012)

WHO IS WHO?

Bestiari Il·lustrat (Illustrated Bestiary)

-  Every episode is, primarily, an interview to an artist.

-  Innovative TV show for a minority audience.

-  Three seasons (2010-2012/13) on Canal 33. (secondary TV channel of Catalan broadcast company, TVC)

Jair Domínguez & Bibiana Ballbé

Joan Carlos I The King of Spain

CHRONOLOGY

09.10.2012 – The episode is broadcasted

11.10.2012 – First reactions

Resigned the director of "Bestiari Il·lustrat” (Mai Balaguer) to 'shoot' the king - regio7.cat

17.10.2012 – National Court

The National Court (Audiencia Nacional) investigates the 'executions' in 'Bestiari Il·lustrat’

elperiodico.com

12.11.2012 – Self-regulation

CAC asks TVC enhancing control measures following the broadcast 'Bestiari I·lustrat’ - acn.cat

03.01.2013 – Crime against the Crown

The prosecutor believes that "Bestiari Il·lustrat" might have committed a crime against the Crown – vertele.com

21.01.2013 – J. Domínguez goes to Court

J. Dominguez denies despised figure of the King 'Bestiari Il·lustrat' and argues that it was a "parody" (ACN) – vilaweb.cat

22.02.2013 – Bibiana Ballbé goes to Court

B. Ballbé frames the parody of the king at "Bestiari Il·lustrat" in a humoristic scene playing with the aesthetics of Tarantino – 324.cat

03.2013 - … ??????????

CONSTITUCIÓN ESPAÑOLA SPANISH CONSTITUTION

Spanish Constitution, 1978

Article 20  [Specific Freedoms, Restrictions] (1) The following rights are recognized and protected: a) To express and disseminate thoughts freely through words, writing, or any other means of reproduction. b) Literary, artistic, scientific, and technical production, and creation. (…) (2) The exercise of these rights cannot be restricted through any type of prior censorship. (…) (4) These liberties find their limitation in the respect for the rights recognized in this Title, in the precepts of the laws which develop it and, especially, in the right to honor, privacy, personal identity, and protection of youth and childhood. (…)

Spanish Constitution, 1978

Title II The Crown Article 56 [Head of State] (1)  The King is the Head of State, the symbol of its unity and

permanence. He arbitrates and moderates the regular functioning of the institutions, assumes the highest representation of the Spanish State in international relations, especially with the nations of its historical community, and exercises the functions expressly attributed to him by the Constitution and the laws. (…)

(3) The person of the King is inviolable and is not subject to responsibility. His acts shall always be in the manner established in Article 64 and shall lack validity without that countersignature (…)

CÓDIGO PENAL CRIMINAL CODE

Criminal Code, 1995

CHAPTER II - On felonies against the Crown Article 485 1. Whoever kills the King, or any of his ascendants or descendants, the Queen consort or the Queen’s Consort, the Regent or any member of the Regency, or the Heir to the Crown, shall be punished with a sentence of imprisonment from twenty a twenty- five years. 2. Attempt to commit the same felony shall be punished with the penalty lower by one degree. (…)

Criminal Code, 1995

CHAPTER II - On felonies against the Crown Article 490 3. Whoever commits slander or defamation against the King (…) shall be punished with a sentence of imprisonment of six months to two years if the slander or defamation are serious and with that of a fine of six to twelve months if no. Article 491 1. Slander and defamations against any of the persons mentioned in the preceding Article, and outside the cases foreseen therein, shall be punished with the penalty of a fine from 4 to 20 months.

DISCUSSION (?)

My opinion Ø This is a matter of freedom of expression.

Ø The shot itself is just an anecdote within a story.

Taken away from the it, can be misunderstood. Ø  Bestiari Il·lustrat was a TV show targeted to a minority

audience that understands, within a context, opinions expressed by interviewers such as J. Domínguez.

Ø This happened within a context of discredit on Spanish monarchy and political tension Catalonia-Spain.

Your opinion?

Ø Freedom of expression or felonies against the Crown?

Ø What would happen… in your country? Ø Questions? Comments?  

DANK U WEL!