The Spanish Foundation of Christian Lawyers filed a complaint before the Court of First Instance and Instruction of Azpeitia against the leaders of the Youth Assembly of Zestoa for breaking into the local church on January 21 and interrupting the celebration of Mass.
The lawyers’ organization said that the activists who entered the church could have committed the crimes of disruption of worship, desecration, incitement to hatred and unlawful demonstration.
A total of seven people burst into the parish with their faces hidden behind white masks and dressed in overalls, and unfurled a banner accusing the church of greed (“diruzale”) and speculation (“espekulatzaile”), while demanding the suspension of the judicial process that weighs on the gaztetxe (“squatted” social center) of the municipality. The intruders reached the altar and threw counterfeit euro banknotes as they passed between the pews.
The lawyers’ foundation has not ruled out the possibility that these people may have also incurred in a crime of coercion.
The organization told the judge that “in no way can they justify attacks of the magnitude we are witnessing, which break the rule of law and peaceful coexistence among citizens.”
“This is not an isolated act. In recent weeks, the same group has been the protagonist of attacks on churches that dawned with padlocks on the doors, silicone on the locks, graffiti and posters with which the Christian community was harassed and singled out.”
The president of Christian Lawyers, Polonia Castellanos, pointed out that “no protest can justify these actions that directly attack the fundamental right to religious freedom. We will go all the way to prevent these acts from going unpunished”.