Two priests on trial in Malaga for inciting hatred against immigrants and Muslims

Two priests are on trial in Malaga for reportedly inciting hatred towards immigrants and Muslims through statements made in online articles. The editor of the media outlet that published those statements is also on trial. The prosecution is asking for a three-year prison sentence and a fine of 3,000 euros for the two priests and a four-year prison sentence for the editor, considering it proven that the posts constitute a "hate crime" and not "an exercise of free speech".

The statements of Father Custodio Ballester and Jesús Calvo have been disseminated since 2013. The association of Muslims against Islamophobia filed the initial complaint and appeared as a private prosecutor in the case. The trial took place in a courtroom packed with 50 people who were there to support the priests.

According to the public prosecution, Ballester had previously referred to the Muslim population as a "predatory stain" or "termites" on social media. In addition, he had reportedly said that "a dialogue with Islam is impossible".

At the hearing, Father Ballester stated that he had used those terms to allude to radical jihadism. "I am not referring to all Muslims in the world," he said. According to him, the trial was an attempt to punish freedom of the press. "They are asking for three years in prison, when no one has been violated. I have only spoken and my statements have never been discriminatory or hateful."

According to the prosecution, Jesús Calvo also incited hatred by publicly using expressions such as "invading refugees", who "complicate coexistence" and want to "wipe out the white race by bringing in all the rubbish".

The defendant, however, said that the articles containing these statements were not written by him but were based on telephone conversations. He said that his intention was not to hurt anyone. "I only wanted to condemn what is illegal and I spoke out against false immigration," he said.

The highest sentence requested concerns the editor who, according to the prosecutor, approached his position of power "to point to immigration, especially of African origin, to Europe, in general, and to Spain, in particular, as an invasion aimed at the destruction of the European people".

To do so, the indictment states, they would identify refugees, asylum seekers and immigrants, especially Muslims, "as potential criminals or delinquents, parasites of the system unworthy of residing in Europe". The defendant is believed to have used various strategies to "generate animosity and hostility".

These accusations have been denied by the editor, who has stated that the articles for which he is accused were only a small part of the total of the millions published and that they were never intended to attack Muslims. "They were topical, politically critical and free-thinking," he stated.