The rights to freedom of expression and information prevail over the right to honour, and this presupposes that it is permissible for apostates from a religious denomination to refer to it as a “dangerous sect” if they are able to demonstrate the veracity of the accusations they have made in the media and social networks.
With this argument, Judge Raquel Chacón, of the court of first instance number 6 of Torrejón de Ardoz, has dismissed the lawsuit for violation of honor that Jehovah’s witnesses had presented against a group of repudiated or renegades who had grouped together in the Spanish Association of Victims of Jehovah’s Witnesses (Aevtj) since February 12, 2020.
The Jehovah’s Witnesses had sued the Aevtj in the hope of forcing the dissolution of the association or at least removing the term victims from the name, website and social networks. It was also required to cease the illegitimate interference with the right to honor and to stop the dissemination of comments or information in any medium, in addition to claiming compensation. Judge Chacón dismissed all the requests and ordered the plaintiffs to pay the procedural costs.
The court decision, which will be appealed by Jehovah’s Witnesses, may set a precedent on informational limits when certain practices of religious denominations are denounced, since for the first time the possibility of qualifying a religious denomination rooted in Spain
The statutes of the Aevt, among many points, ensure that Jehovah’s witnesses practice sectarianism and psychological control, hide episodes of sexual abuse and pedophiles, cause human losses when they refuse blood transfusions and discriminate against women and hide cases of gender-based violence and abusers, as well as covering other discriminations, such as those made due to the sexual orientation of the faithful.
The trial took place in January and it took nine oral sessions for witnesses from both sides to give their versions. Judgment no. 258/2023 collects the testimonies and adds numerous articles published in the media before the creation of the Aevth, as well as documents with regulations or dogmas professed in Spain and the world by the religious denomination that presented the demand.
The Aevtj, since it was founded, has publicized what it considers sectarian behaviors of Jehovah’s Witnesses, such as the control of the personal lives of the faithful and social ostracism, which includes the breakdown of relationships between parents and children and members of the same family when a believer of that religious confession is expelled or leaves. He has also denounced the psychological consequences of the expelled, such as loneliness, depression and, according to them, several cases of suicide.
The decision of the magistrate of Torrejón de Ardoz reasons that “the recognition of ‘notorious roots’ in the claimant’s confession does not weaken the veracity of the statements of all ex-believers and of the association that qualifies it as a sect, an attribution made by numerous ex-members, according to their experiences, because it is closely related to the behaviors criticized and that have been described”.
In the sentence, of 73 pages, it is added that the examples and fragments of the same religious texts of the Jehovah’s Witnesses “can be regarded in our days as an excessive control over the lives of the faithful”, and that, in addition in addition, “the insistence on knowing details of certain relationships, sentimental or not, distrust of witnesses or the obligation to first consult the elders [religious leaders in Jehovah’s Witnesses], respecting a strict hierarchical system, reveal an atmosphere of supervision insistent”.
Israel Flórez, president of the Aevtj, declared in La Vanguardia, after the decision was made public: “We are euphoric, this sentence will give rise to many things, now we will go against them through the criminal route”. Flórez, who feels victimized by Jehovah’s Witnesses because, among other reasons, one of his sisters ended up committing suicide due to the psychological consequences after passing through the community, advanced the possibility that members of the Aevtj may file several lawsuits , without detailing what kind of cases. The association will present its line of action on Monday at a press conference in Madrid.
For their part, Jehovah’s Witnesses announced that they will appeal against the sentence in an official statement in which they show their perplexity and consternation after verifying that the judge deliberately “ignored the documentary and testimonial evidence” that present to the hearings. Authorized scientific studies and decisions of international courts, including the European Court of Human Rights, have clearly demonstrated the falsity of the serious accusations of the Aevtj”.
The Jehovah’s Witnesses remember that another magistrate in Torrejón de Ardoz sentenced on October 27 the secretary of the Aevtj to pay 5,000 euros in compensation for calling the religious confession a “dangerous sect”, from which he was expelled more than fifteen years ago.
