The prosecutor maintains the 3 years in prison for the head of the Social Home for linking Islam with jihadism

He argues that the global action in the M30 mosque "supports hate speech and linked Islamism with terrorism"

MADRID, 19 Oct. (EUROPA PRESS) -

The prosecutor has maintained his request for a 3-year sentence for the leader of Hogar Social Madrid (HSM), Melisa Domínguez Ruiz, for a crime of incitement to hatred for linking Islam with terrorist jihadism in the protest he led on March 22 2016 in front of the M30 mosque after the multiple attacks in Brussels.

The trial held this Wednesday with a public hearing against the leader of the far-right group and eleven of its members has been seen for sentencing after the final reports of the parties.

The action of Hogar Social Madrid consisted of a rally around the temple, hanging a banner on the M30 walkway where you could read; "Today Brussels, tomorrow Madrid". On each side of the poster they placed two smoke canisters. After that, the images and a statement were disseminated through social networks, which generated, according to the prosecutor, hundreds of Islamophobic comments.

Upon witnessing the attack and hearing insults, the security guard at the Islamic center then alerted the police and closed the doors of the temple to avoid a conflict, since at that time there were many people practicing prayer.

The prosecutor, who only accuses the leader of the group, understands that as a whole the global protest action supported "hate speech" that took to social networks and generated hundreds of discriminatory comments towards Islam and the people who profess it. this religion.

In his plea, he stressed that the protest led by Melisa was "absolutely intolerant of diversity" and "discriminatory due to prejudice and animosity towards the group that professes the Islamic faith." "Hatred against Islamism was perpetuated by spreading the images on networks," he asserted.

He rejects that the documentation provided by the defense in relation to a sentence that condemned a Salafist cell based in the M30 mosque for financing jihadist terrorism supports the action within the framework of his right to freedom of expression. "We cannot qualify a system as corrupt just because of a corrupt official," he stressed.

"Nothing is accidental. There is a banner with the motto of HSM, cataloged as extreme right. Next to it, a symbol with a crossed out mosque. The events occurred in an area with a large influx of traffic and close to the place of worship where it was praying. It is recorded and broadcast through networks and media. It generates a high impact that stigmatizes the group," he denounced, insisting that Islamism was linked to terrorism.

In his report, the lawyer for the Spanish Immigration and Refugee Aid Network, who acts as an accusation, has finalized his conclusions in which he asks for 4 years in prison for Melisa for incitement to hatred and public disorder. The rest of the defendants are asked for two years in prison from the rest of the defendants for public disorder, with the aggravating circumstance of incitement to hatred.

The defenses ask the court for the free acquittal of their patrons in the future sentence that is issued in the absence of evidence of the crime of public disorder.

Yesterday, Melisa reaffirmed herself before the court of the action committed in the vicinity of the Islamic center for "financing terrorist jihadism". "I don't regret telling the truth," she told the media.

The concentration took place after a terrorist attack in Brussels (Belgium), at the Zaventem international airport and at the Maelbeeck metro station, with dozens of deaths and hundreds of injuries.

In the session, the agents of the Information Brigade of the National Police who participated in the identification of the accused through the viewing of the images posted on social networks have appeared.

The agents have detailed that the members of Hogar Social Madrid, cataloged as a far-right group, identified themselves by frames when they were recognized for previous evictions despite not having a police record.

As for the police intervention, the protest was made known through a call to 091. An indicative Z from the National Police removed the banner hanging on the M30 bridge and the agents took a statement from the mosque guard, who he described the racist shouting that the demonstrators uttered.

Carlos Cristóbal, an expert in Islam, has also appeared, and who has stressed that the group was protesting against terrorist jihadism and not against the Muslim religion.

In his indictment, the prosecutor reports that the Social Home Association is of a welfare nature and that its task is focused on helping families "only of Spanish origin who are economically needy."

In her capacity as representative of said organization, on March 22, 2016, the accused placed a banner on the M-30 footbridge together with a group of sympathizers and then "lit flares to give it visibility".

The banner had the legend "Today Brussels, tomorrow Madrid?" And below you could see two images: one of a castle surrounded by a blue circle and next to it a mosque crossed out and framed in a red circle.

Later, the group approached the Mosque located on Salvador de Madariaga street while shouting "Moors out" "Mosques down." His attitude determined that the security guard of that place quickly closed the main access door to avoid confrontation with the people who were inside.

That same day, the Twitter and Facebook profiles of Hogar Social published "the first images of the action carried out a moment ago against Islamic terrorism in the M-30 Mosque in Madrid, a mosque that finances the Islamic State, Mosques outside of Spain".

This publication gave rise to 434 comments and was shared 2,197 times. A day later, the leader of the group made a statement on the La Sexta network in which she vindicated and justified the action and on March 24 the video was published on YouTube in front of the M-30 mosque.