A woman has accepted a one-year prison sentence for having posted a video on Twitter in 2019 where minors were seen behaving violently in a classroom. According to the defendant, the protagonists of the video were unaccompanied migrant minors who had arrived in Spain, although in reality it was a school in Brazil.
This Tuesday the hearing was held at the Provincial Court of Barcelona. The woman and the Prosecutor’s Office have reached an agreement regarding the facts and the sentence, so it has not been necessary to hold the trial.
The accused has acknowledged being the one who uploaded the video to the network in June 2019 and the Public Prosecutor’s Office has lowered the request for a sentence: from the two years in prison and a fine of 6,400 euros that he initially requested, he has gone on to request one year in prison and 900 euro fine.
In the images several students were observed in a classroom shouting, throwing and knocking down tables and harassing the teacher by throwing papers at her and insulting her. The woman published the video accompanied by the following text: “I am sending a video of an educational center for illegal immigrants. Look how they appreciate our welcome.”
The police investigation clarified that the events had nothing to do with migrant minors arriving in Spain, but rather images from a school in Brazil.
The Public Ministry believes that the defendant intended, “with manifest contempt for the truth, to associate violent behavior with the group of migrant minors, contributing to creating prejudices regarding these people, with the consequent risk of creating a feeling of rejection towards them.” . The legal case was initiated based on a complaint about the video filed by the Ombudsman of Barcelona.
However, the defendant has accepted that she is the author of a hate crime, for which she has been punished with one year in prison, a fine of 900 euros and the disqualification of six years from practicing an educational profession or trade (although the woman has acknowledged at the hearing that he does not work and that he is a pensioner).
In any case, he will not go to prison since, because he does not have a criminal record and because the sentence is less than two years in jail, the court has suspended compliance, although it has made it conditional on payment of the imposed fine and on the defendant carrying out a diversity acceptance course
This case represents the second conviction for spreading false news in the province of Barcelona, ​​after in November 2022 the same court sentenced a civil guard for spreading another video on Twitter in which he attributed a rape to illegal migrant minors in Spain. It actually happened in China.
