(17 Mar 2018) Dozens of people burned photographs of Spain's King Felipe and of emeritus King Juan Carlos in Barcelona on Friday in celebration of a ruling by the European Court of Human Rights which sided with two Catalan republicans who were charged for burning photos of the king in 2007.
The burning of photos and other displays of disrespect to the Crown are criminal offences in Spain, punishable with fines and in some cases with up to two years in jail.
The pair took their case to the European court after losing appeals in Spain against their conviction.
On Tuesday, the court in Strasbourg sided with Enric Stern and Jaume Roura, saying that their protest amounted to freedom of expression.
In light of the ruling, people gathered in Barcelona to celebrate the decision by burning photographs of both King Felipe and his father King emeritus Juan Carlos while singing Catalan pro-independence songs.
In a separate demonstration, people took to the city's Universitat square to mark five months since pro-Catalan independence activists Jordi Sanchez and Jordi Cuixart were jailed.
The leaders of the grassroots organisations Catalan National Assembly and Omnium Cultural respectively, are being investigated for sedition.
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