The Andalusian Federation of Democratic Memory denounced to the Prosecutor’s Office of Human Rights and Democratic Memory the act of exaltation of José Antonio Primo de Rivera and the dictator Francisco Franco committed on the afternoon of November 20 by around thirty people, allegedly belonging to the Spanish Falange, after attending a liturgical event in the conventual church of the Holy Angel, on Rioja Street in Seville. The memorial entity considers that this act represents two very serious offenses, which the law punishes with fines of 10,001 to 150,000 euros.
In a video uploaded to Facing the Sun, “a hymn of clear fascist significance and a painful memory for the victims and their loved ones who experienced the repression of the Franco regime throughout its forty years,” recalls the complaint to which elDiario.es Andalucía had access.
The Democratic Memory Law stipulates in its article 38 that “acts committed in public which result in the discredit, contempt or humiliation of the victims or their families, and involve the personal or collective exaltation of the military uprising, the war or of the dictatorship, its leaders, the participants in the repressive system or the organizations which supported the dictatorial regime” “will be considered contrary to democratic memory”.
According to the Andalusian Federation of Democratic Memory, which is bringing the case to the public prosecutor’s office, the information collected from people who were walking in the street at that time and that provided by the press and television news “leaves no doubt about the fact that we are facing a clear case of humiliation and contempt towards the victims of the coup and a serious violation of the law.
The memorial collective goes further, designating not only the thirty people who acted in this way, but also “those who directed the public building where everything was organized, from where they left by initiating their illegal acts and door where they were.” in reference to the Carmelites of the Holy Angel and, specifically, to Prior Juan Dobado. He “did nothing to prevent or dissolve it, for which it would have been enough to notify the national police,” the complaint states.
Two statutory violations
According to the plaintiffs, the acts that took place at the door of the Church of the Holy Angel meet the definition of two precepts of article 62.1 of the Law on Democratic Memory, which includes very serious offenses. The first, “the failure to adopt the necessary measures to prevent or put an end to the carrying out, in spaces open to the public or in public places and establishments, of acts of personal or collective exaltation, of military insurrection, of war or dictatorship, its leaders, participants in the repressive system or organizations that supported the dictatorial regime, when they lead to discredit, contempt or humiliation of the victims or their families on the part of the owner or of the person responsible for the space where to commit such acts.
And also, “calls for demonstrations, broadcasts or advertising campaigns which, by any means of public communication, in written or verbal form, in their sound elements or in their images, incite personal or collective exaltation of the military uprising, the War or dictatorship, of its leaders, participants in the repressive system or organizations that supported the dictatorial regime, when it results in the discredit, contempt or humiliation of the victims or their victims. parents.”
In addition to the fine, the law provides that the sanction resolution “may” agree to other additional measures, such as the closure of premises or public establishments where the offenses are committed for six months to two years.
