The Madrid Press Association (APM) and the Federation of Associations of Journalists of Spain (FAPE) have supported the informants who have been denounced by Action and Communication on the Middle East (ACOM)an entity co-founded by businessman David Hatchwell Altaras, a prominent figure in the Spanish Jewish community.
ACOM announced that it was filing legal actions before four civil courts in the Community of Madrid for the crime of insults against Silivia Intxaurrondo e Inés Hernandfrom TVE; Raquel Ejeriquefrom elDiario.es, Antonio Maestrefrom La Sexta, in addition to Eduardo Rubino y Pablo Padillafrom Más Madrid, and Nadwa Abu-Ghazaleh, of the BDS movement. He points out that “it is no coincidence that at times of greatest tension in the Middle East, coordinated campaigns of harassment, insults and incitement to hatred emerge in Spain, specifically directed against relevant Jewish people and against those who support Israel in our country.”
European directive to protect journalists
The APM has issued a statement in which it denounces “the use of legal actions against journalists to intimidate or attempt to restrict their freedom of expression.”
In addition to supporting “to the colleagues designated by ACOM“, the association recalls that “although any citizen or organization can appeal to the courts when they consider themselves harmed, it is unacceptable that this is done as an instrument of intimidation and singling out journalists who express their opinions in the exercise of their freedom of expression.”
In the statement, it also refers to the approval two years ago in the European Union of the “directive to protect journalists, activists and rights defenders against strategic and abusive demands aimed at silencing public criticism.
“The so-called directive anti-Slapp (Strategic Lawsuit Against Public Participation) “tries to stop civil lawsuits initiated by powerful actors (Governments, politicians, companies) to intimidate and harass those who report irregularities or report on matters of public interest, causing them great economic and legal wear,” he explains.
FAPE protection for Antonio Maestre
Likewise, FAPE has issued a statement in which it reports that it grants “the protection requested by journalist Antonio Maestre in light of the accusations and attacks he has received from the ACOM association.”
“As Maestre himself points out in his request for protection, the aforementioned association sent him a message that says ‘the precise strategy is VBUPAPVADIPEELCNTIYVAAELC (go look for a good lawyer, but it won’t matter because in Spain criminals have no impunity and you will end up in jail)’ after he published information critical of the Government of Israel, for which they filed a complaint against him alleging anti-Semitism,” explains FAPE.
The Federation then responds that “attitudes like these, in addition to attack fundamental rights such as freedom of expression and information, are intolerable due to their intimidating nature and defamation against the mere fact of informing”.
And for all this, “it categorically condemns conduct that does not respect the work of information professionals while condemning the attempts to intimidate them“. He also warns that “he will not stop denouncing any attack on the rights of journalists.”
