The Barcelona judge investigating the racist chants against the Real Madrid CF player Vinícius Jr. uttered by two Barcelona fans at the Montjuïc stadium during the 2023 classic has summoned the Brazilian footballer to declare that he has been harmed, legal sources inform elDiario.es.
The footballer’s appearance has been set for next January 23. Magistrate Carmen García, head of the 18th investigative court in Barcelona, has chosen to allow Vinicius to appear as an injured party via videoconference from the Madrid courts, without the need for him to travel in person to the Catalan capital.
This was also the case in the first case for racist insults to the player that took place in Valencia, and which ended with an agreement by which the three young accused accepted a sentence of eight months in prison – without civil liability and without fine – for a crime. against moral integrity with the aggravating circumstance of hatred and the mitigating circumstance of repentance.
The Barcelona case dates back to October 2023. Thanks to the recordings and a witness, the Mossos d’Esquadra identified three people, one of them a minor, for racist shouts at the Real Madrid player in the classic played in the Montjuïc stadium.
The two investigated in Barcelona, who already appeared before the judge last July, uttered various chants and racist insults at Vinícius during the match, especially coinciding with the moment in which the footballer was substituted and left the field of play.
The hate crimes service of the Barcelona Prosecutor’s Office, which was already a pioneer in criminally denouncing fans for their racist behavior in stadiums, is involved in the case. The Professional Football League (LFP), the employer’s association led by Javier Tebas, has also acted as an accusation in the case.
The Penal Code punishes with up to two years in prison for humiliation and injury to human dignity through actions that involve “humiliation, contempt or discredit” for racist, anti-Semitic, ideological or xenophobic reasons. According to the doctrine of the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR), which is binding for Spain, freedom of expression protects not only harmless opinions, but also the most hurtful ones. But it establishes as red lines direct incitement to violence and comments that delve into the discrimination already suffered by vulnerable and discriminated groups.
The racist insults against the Real Madrid player at Mestalla unleashed a wave of solidarity and indignation around the world, which started in his country of origin, Brazil, and called into question both Spanish football and the authorities’ response to racism. .
Although the repeated racist shouts that Vinícius suffers in several stadiums have amplified racism in football, the first case of this type to be judged in Spain does not have as a victim a player from Barça or Real Madrid, but from Athletic Bilbao. .
The Prosecutor’s Office is asking for two years in prison for an Espanyol fan for the racist shouts he made against Athletic Club forward Iñaki Williams during a League match held at the Cornellà–El Prat stadium in 2020.
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