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| Spanish court acquits Podemos councillor over topless church protest Spanish court acquits Podemos councillor over topless church protest | |
| (about 7 hours later) | |
| A Spanish court on Friday acquitted on appeal a spokeswoman for Madrid’s city council who was fined over 4,000 euros for taking her top off in a chapel in a 2011 protest. | A Spanish court on Friday acquitted on appeal a spokeswoman for Madrid’s city council who was fined over 4,000 euros for taking her top off in a chapel in a 2011 protest. |
| In March, a court found Rita Maestre, a 28-year-old Podemos councillor and former student of the far-left party’s leader Pablo Iglesias, guilty of “infringing on freedom of conscience and religious convictions”. | In March, a court found Rita Maestre, a 28-year-old Podemos councillor and former student of the far-left party’s leader Pablo Iglesias, guilty of “infringing on freedom of conscience and religious convictions”. |
| When still a student, she burst into the chapel with 50 others at Madrid’s Complutense University, in protest against what they said was the Catholic church’s “antidemocratic and chauvinistic” positions. | When still a student, she burst into the chapel with 50 others at Madrid’s Complutense University, in protest against what they said was the Catholic church’s “antidemocratic and chauvinistic” positions. |
| She took off her t-shirt, showing her bra, and others went completely topless during the demonstration. The protest sparked an outcry, leading to discontent from right-wing politicians and the Catholic church, and it turned Maestre into a favourite target of Spanish conservatives. | She took off her t-shirt, showing her bra, and others went completely topless during the demonstration. The protest sparked an outcry, leading to discontent from right-wing politicians and the Catholic church, and it turned Maestre into a favourite target of Spanish conservatives. |
| Public prosecutors had asked for Maestre to be sentenced to a year in jail, the maximum penalty allowed under Spanish law for the crime, but she was fined 4,320 euros ($4,500) instead. | Public prosecutors had asked for Maestre to be sentenced to a year in jail, the maximum penalty allowed under Spanish law for the crime, but she was fined 4,320 euros ($4,500) instead. |
| But an appeal court said it had cancelled the sentence, considering that “inadequate clothing or certain inappropriate gestures” were not “an act of desecration”. | But an appeal court said it had cancelled the sentence, considering that “inadequate clothing or certain inappropriate gestures” were not “an act of desecration”. |
| On Twitter, Maestre said she was “happy, satisfied and proud”. “Good news for freedom of expression,” she added. | On Twitter, Maestre said she was “happy, satisfied and proud”. “Good news for freedom of expression,” she added. |