A Barcelona court has sentenced the publisher of an anti-Semitic comic book to 32 days in jail and fined him $1,000.
The publisher, Damian Carulla, was also forbidden to publish further editions of the comic book "Hitler SS" in Spain. The ruling overturned an earlier court decision that had absolved Carulla and his Makoki publishing house of wrongdoing.
"Hitler SS" takes place inside a concentration camp and mocks the inmates. It is a Spanish translation of a comic book produced by a French team, writer Gourio and illustrator Vuillemin.
The court said it was obvious who the people denigrated in the book were and observed that "Jews can find no humor in the disrespect and lack of consideration for their feelings or those of their relatives who lived through the concentration camps."
According to attorney Dalia Levinson, who prosecuted the case on behalf of the B’nai B’rith and a survivors group in Barcelona, Carulla will probably appeal the verdict to the highest court, contending that his right to freedom of expression has been violated.
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