One of Spain's leading underground artists is due to appear in court over a film short he made in 1978 on How to cook Jesus Christ (Cómo cocinar un Cristo).
Javier Krahe has been taken to court by a Catholic legal association, the
Centro Juridico Tomas Moro, for supposedly offending religious feelings . The Catholic association says the law has never before been applied in Spanish legal history.
Banned under Spain's strict censorship laws in 1978, Krahe's 54-second
film was finally broadcast on television in 2004 as the backdrop to an interview with the artist.
The film uses culinary language and images to show viewers how to remove the nails and separate him from the crucifix, which we leave to one side
before the white ebony figure of Christ is shown being lightly smothered in butter, placed on a bed of aromatic herbs in a glass tray, and popped into an oven. Another culinary guideline recommends using a proportion of one gaunt Christ
for each two potential diners. After three days inside, he comes out of the cooker by himself! is the film's punch line .
Two previous attempts to prosecute Krahe over the film ended up being dropped.
Krahe, who has sought to expose
the darker and more hypocritical facets of Spanish society for nearly half a century through acerbic anti-establishment humour, said he considers the trial over a film he made 34 years ago, and its much later broadcast, to be absurd.
Montserrat
Ferna'ndez Villa, the producer of the television programme in which Krahe's film was aired, is also on trial for the same crime
Veteran Spanish singer-songwriter, Javier Krahe, was in court on Monday charged with offending religious feelings with a film he made back in 1978.
The 68-year-old artist told members of the press waiting outside the Madrid courtroom that he
was innocent and misunderstood and that if he were found guilty, he would go into exile in France.
Film director Alex de la Iglesia, a friend and neighbour of Krahe described the whole trial as regrettable, anachronistic and absurd adding that it
reflects badly on Spanish justice.
The National Secular Society has called for Spain to abolish its blasphemy laws following the detainment of an actor accused of offending religious sentiment.
Willy Toledo, a cinema and television actor, was detained under a Madrid court order after
he ignored summons for questioning, arguing he had not committed any offence and so there is no need to appear before a judge.
Toledo was summoned twice over a Facebook post he wrote in July 2017, in which he defended three women who were
prosecuted under blasphemy laws because they simulated a religious procession with a giant plastic
vagina as part of a feminist protest. In his post Toledo said:
I shit on God, and I have enough shit left over to shit on the dogma of the sanctity and virginity of the Virgin Mary. This country is unbearably
shameful.
In response, the Spanish Association of Christian Lawyers filed a complaint against Toledo for shitting on the dogma, and because his words were an offense against religious sentiment.
Following his release form the
court Toledo told reporters:
I am doing what I have to do, which is to draw attention to this, because it is shameful that there are still five articles in the criminal code related to religious sentiments.
Dozens of Spanish citizens applauded and shouted Me cago en Dios (I shit on God) as he left the courthouse. Some Twitter users have started using the hashtag #MeCagoEnDios to express their support. Oscar-winner Javier Bardem has also
spoken out in defence of Toledo.
Stephen Evans, Executive Director at the National Secular Society, joined in the criticism of Spain's blasphemy laws saying:
The existence of a law that outlaws offending or
derision of religious feelings, dogmas, beliefs or rituals shames Spain. Blasphemy laws are an affront to free expression and should be consigned to history. Let's hope the arrest of Willy Toledo precipitates the demise of Spain's arbitrary restrictions
on speech.
Note that the expression shit on God (cagarse en Dios) is commonplace in everyday Spanish discourse.
Article 525 of the Spanish Penal Code forbids the defamation of any individual's or group's religious
sentiments, beliefs, or practices, setting out monetary fines for those who offend religious people. The law tends to be used to defend Catholic sentiments.