The Supreme Court condemns three people for rending the Spanish flag at the Autonomous University of Barcelona (UAB)

The Supreme Court sentences the three student activists to pay fines of up to 2,160 euros in cassation after the Provincial Court of Barcelona acquitted them. The association Societat Civil Catalana carries heads the particular prosecution of the case, since the flag was torn in a tent belonging to the association in the Plaça Cívica of the Autonomous University of Barcelona (UAB). The Supreme Court considers that the flag is a symbol of political unity and the essence of a nation, claiming that ‘if the flag represents us all, the offence is aimed at all of us’ and that rending the flag is a clear act of offence and rejection, of affront, aimed at what this symbol of Spain represents, leaving it in a position to be trampled on the ground. The Court considers that rending the Spanish flag does not fall within the framework of the right to freedom of expression.