Two men fined for insulting Spain's king and queen

Spanish court fined two Catalan nationalists Ђ2,700 (US$4,000) each for burning pictures of the royal family.

Photo: Two men fined for insulting Spain's king and queen

The ruling was handed down by the Judge Jose Maria Vazquez Honrubia of the National Court, the same magistrate who last week fined two cartoonists who had depicted Crown Prince Felipe having sex with his wife in a drawing that ran on the cover of a humor magazine.

This time the judge said the two defendants Jaume Roura and Enric Stern had committed "grave insults" against the Spanish crown by burning photos of King Juan Carlos and Queen Sofia at an anti-monarchy and Catalan separatist rally in Girona as the royal couple visited that Catalan city on Sept. 13.

In announcing the convictions and fines, Vazquez Honrubia said "they can have whatever ideas they want, but they cannot attack the basic institutions of the state."