A court in Madrid has decided to archive the case opened against five activists who changed an advertising banner in February McDonald's in the center of the capital to denounce the genocide of the Palestinian population. The magistrate who studied the case following a police complaint understands that the activists, who hung from a facade so that the fast food chain's advertising read 'McGenocide', did not alter the public road in any way or cause any damage. a crime of public disorder, nor a crime of disobedience.
The action took place last February 18 on Alcalá Street in Madrid, near Retiro Park, where an advertising banner announced a new McDonald's product. Three of the activists climbed down from the facade of the building and, next to a Palestinian flag, displayed several banners to change the advertising message: “Boycott McDonald's now. Call me McGenocide.”
An action with which, as explained by several participating groups, they wanted to denounce that this American chain “freely feeds the Zionist soldiers of Israel who have been slaughtering the Palestinian people for years.” The company for its part issued a statement denies having supported Israel in the conflict.
Five activists were arrested by police, both the three who had hung the banner and those waiting at street level, and were charged with a crime of public disorder and a crime of disobedience, when they understood that they had not come down after being requested by the police officers. As elDiario.es has learned, court number 35 of Plaza de Castilla in Madrid has decided to archive the case.
The magistrate understood, after taking statements from the five activists, that they had committed neither of these two crimes. “It cannot be deduced from their actions that they changed traffic, threatened or intimidated people, threw objects or thereby disrupted public order,” the order states. “The facts examined do not include the elements of the type of crime nor those of the crime of disobedience,” he concludes.
Palestinian flag at the Israeli embassy
The judge's arguments for filing the case against these five activists are consistent with those of their lawyer, Daniel Amelang, in the document in which he requested the dismissal of the proceedings. “They did not block traffic, they did not threaten or intimidate anyone, they did not throw objects or disturb the public peace in any way,” he explained in his charges.
As the activists defended during the trial: “It was a peaceful action, without interference from third parties, which fulfilled the task of denouncing a dramatic event such as genocide. They merely expressed their solidarity with a civilian population that is being decimated and forcibly displaced, and in turn confirmed what many international organizations have determined, such as the Security Council or the International Court of Justice.”
It is not the only complaint action with which pro-Palestinian groups have denounced the situation in the Gaza Strip. Several activists last November They hung a Palestinian flag at the Israeli embassy in Madrid, along with several banners on which messages such as “Israel genocide” or “From the river to the sea, Palestine will win” could be read. These activists, as this newspaper explained, They received an administrative fine with 50 euros.