Four cases reported to prosecutor for accusing Catalans of being "Nazis"

BarcelonaA lawsuit was filed today with the public prosecutor by 65 organisations that want to put an end to "serious verbal attacks of an aggressive, degrading and offensive nature against citizens of Catalonia, the Catalan people, Catalan associations, and our political leaders". The complaint seeks to have the prosecutor investigate all those who have accused Catalan groups, citizens, and politicians of being racist, fascist, or even Nazis or followers of Hitler, merely for wishing that Catalonia were independent. The organisations who had already signed a manifesto in this respect are behind the lawsuit that was filed with the Catalan prosecutor's office at mid-day today.

The insults have been spread primarily via Facebook and Twitter, using "abusive, libelous, or threatening expressions, photo montages, libelous attributions, and damaging or threatening characterizations, both direct and veiled.

Four of the cases reported are:

1. Twitter user: @nazionalistacat

This Twitter user, with more than 13,900 followers, has published more than 21 photo montages in the past 10 months characterizing the Catalan government as a Nazi regime, describing how those who feel Spanish in Catalonia are persecuted like the Jews during the Nazi era, using phrases such as "in the 1940s there were yellow stars, in the 21st century they bear red stickers".

2. Twitter user: @loren36loren

This user has more than 1,820 followers and has posted more than 32 photo montages in the last 10 months accusing supporters of independence of being Nazis, comparing Carme Forcadell with Hitler, and describing language immersion as indoctrination and belonging to Nazism. One of the posts compared the slogan "One language, one culture, one country" with "Ein Volk, ein Reich, ein Führer".

3. Twitter user: @pedro-altuna

This user has 5,876 followers. The account belongs to Mr. Pedro Altuna, who holds the office of Director of the Gregorio Ordóñez Foundation, which has among its aims "the defense of peaceful coexistence". The Twitter account shows a minimum of 18 comparisons of Catalans with the Nazis and direct insults, placing those favorable to independence alongside those of the Islamic State, considering the giga-survey promoted by the ANC as an attempt to segregate Jews and Aryans, and stating that in Catalonia there is a situation of cultural genocide.

4. Twitter user: @verdadesofenden

This user has 15,400 followers. This account claims that the V of 11 September was copied from the Nazis and compares it to the fascist demonstrations of Mussolini; that Artur Mas, who it calls Führer, appeals to race and glory to achieve freedom in the same way as Hitler; and that the supporters of independence aspire to a Nazi Lebensraum.

The complaint also notes that the Twitter account @apuntem systematically collects direct threats against the citizens of Catalonia, threats that clearly infringe on the rights of those citizens.