Overview
- Seven defendants received prison terms ranging from eight months to one year and ten months after the court applied mitigation for undue procedural delays.
- The ruling confirms the Málaga provincial court’s reversal of an initial Melilla acquittal following appeals by the public prosecutor and the Jesuit Migrant Service.
- The case stems from a January 15, 2017 post in a 14,000‑member Facebook group that drew insults and calls for vigilante action, including proposals for patrols to “clean” the streets.
- The court highlighted the group’s reach relative to Melilla’s roughly 85,000 residents to underscore the potential for the messages to fuel hostility toward a vulnerable collective.
- The panel, with Judge Ángel Luis Hurtado as rapporteur, clarified that Spain’s hate‑speech offense does not require a special intent beyond knowingly issuing violent, inciting content capable of creating danger.