The Minors Prosecutor’s Office of Barcelona has resorted to the Provincial Court of Barcelona on Tuesday, the order of the Court of First Instance number 39 of Barcelona, which on Monday rejected in a precautionary way the publication of the book Hate (Anagrama), by writer Luisgé Martín. The work has the testimony of José Breton, the murderer sentenced to 40 years in jail for killing his children, Ruth and José, six and two years old. He also speaks of the life of Ruth Ortiz, the mother of the children, who had requested the paralysis of the publication for illegitimate interference of the right to honor, intimacy and the image of the deceased minors.
In the appeal, to which the country has had access, the prosecutor insists that the book can “violate the right to honor, intimacy and own image of the minors” and claims, again, that “it is transferred from a copy or draft of the same” to the Public Ministry “in order to examine the content and issue the corresponding opinion” on the work. The Prosecutor’s Office argues that, in the face of the fundamental right to the freedom of expression that the judge alleges in his brief to reject the suspension of the publication of the book, there is another fundamental right, the right to honor “that in case of the publication of the book, it is not that it can be restricted, it may be violated.” And he adds that the publisher breached its obligation by not transferring the content of the book prior to the Prosecutor’s Office “in order to examine it and issue the corresponding opinion on the possible existence of the illegitimate interference of the right to honor.”
In the appeal, of seven folios, the prosecutor considers “surprising” the resolution of the judge not to apply the precautionary suspension, when “precisely what is about avoiding in a precautionary way with the requested measure is the publication and distribution of the book.” No other precautionary measure “alternative or less restrictive” can be applied, the prosecutor continues, “for the simple reason that it does not exist.” Not publishing the book, delves, is the only measure that “can remedy the breach of the prior communication obligation (to the Prosecutor’s Office) (…) and thus avoid the injury or impairment in a fundamental right due to illegitimate interference to honor.” “The rights protected by law (in reference to the fundamental right to freedom of expression) cannot be considered absolutely unlimited,” adds the prosecutor in the appeal.
The Minors Prosecutor’s Office already requested last Thursday to temporarily suspend the publication of the book after the complaint filed by the mother. “This is a request unheard of part (Without listening to the other party), ”replied the judge, who stressed that the prosecution’s request is that the publication of a book that was initially scheduled for March 26 is suspended. The magistrate also argued that what they contributed are journalistic articles where the book is referred to,“ but none shows the content of the book ”.
In the appeal, the Prosecutor’s Office concludes that “the judge of instance has more than sufficient documentation to assess, provide and conclude with due rigor and security that there are more than enough reasons to affirm the existence of the serious and imminent risk of illegitimate interference and, therefore, of injury to a fundamental right.”
“The judge tries to substantiate that the documentation provided does not show the content of the book,” argues the Prosecutor’s Office, “which is impossible to make a provisional and indicial judgment and that it is not possible to clearly determine the gender to which the book belongs. These considerations lack the basis and are manifestly insufficient to give any support to the denial of the requested measures.”
The court added in his car that “it is not possible to determine clearly” the gender to which the book belongs (in reference to whether it is fiction or non -fiction), “this being a matter of special transcendence when weighing the limits of freedom of expression.” The Public Prosecutor’s Office is surprised by this doubt: “It does not cease to be surprised that according to this statement, the possible injury to honor can only be committed with books of a certain gender. This consideration is inadmissible and must be rejected.”
Hate wants to be, according to its author, a Inquiry in the criminal’s mind, in his motivations and feelings, while a reconstruction of crime and his own personal approach to Breton. Appointment as inspiration In cold blood by Truman Capote the The adversary by Emmanuel Carrère. The author maintained with the murderer a telephone and epistolary relationship (some sixty cards), in addition to visiting him in prison. After Ruth Ortiz’s complaint, the author of the book explained in a statement: “I started writing Hate Because he was unable to understand that someone could kill their own children. Vicaria violence is probably the most incomprehensible of all. “And it defends:”Hate It does not give a voice to José Bretón: he removes it, denies his explanation of the facts, confronts him with his contradictions. The book, in my humble opinion, serves to show the labyrinths of the infamy and the vileness of a murderer. ”
Born and raised in Madrid, Martín’s work has always focused on the subjective exploration of conflict personalities. LGTBIQ+collective activist, won the Herralde Award in 2020 for its novel One hundred nightsand he is also the author of works such as The shade woman o The memoir The love upside down, a stark confession on the tortuous path that he toured until he accepted his homosexuality.