EIT: Marokon kuningasta koskevan, huumausainerikokseen vihjaavan artikkelin julkaiseminen sallittua

Euroopan ihmisoikeustuomioistuin (EIT) on tänään antamassaan tuomiossa katsonut, että valittajan sanavapautta oli loukattu, kun hänet oli Espanjassa tuomittu Marokon kuningasta koskevan, huumausainerikokseen vihjaavan artikkelin julkaisemisesta.

The information in question was a matter of general interest. The Spanish public had the right to be informed about drug trafficking in which the Moroccan royal family appeared to be involved, a matter that had moreover been the subject of an investigation before the Spanish criminal courts. The Court reiterated that the subject matter of court trials could be the subject of discussion in the press or among the public in general.

The Spanish courts had not denied that the information published in the article was true. The Supreme Court had stated that the headlines and not the information itself had been defamatory. The Court considered that the headline and the content of the article should be viewed as a whole. It noted that, whilst the headline had been designed to attract the reader’s attention, the information in the body of article was true. It also pointed out that it was not its task, or that of the domestic courts, to determine which journalistic techniques should be used and that journalistic freedom covered recourse to a degree of exaggeration.

Furthermore, the author of the article had made reference to information available to her at the time. Provided that journalists acted in good faith and that the information imparted was true, they could not be expected – at the risk of compromising the vital role of “public watchdog” of the press – to undertake independent research.

Accordingly, the restriction on the applicant’s freedom of expression had not been proportionate to the potential seriousness of the damage to the reputation in question. The Court held, by six votes to one, that there had been a violation of Article 10.

Koko tuomio (ranskaksi): Gutierrez Suarez v. Spain

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