A Spanish comedian appeared in court on Monday for having blown his nose on the national flag in a television sketch, the latest case to raise fears for freedom of expression in the country.
“As a citizen of this country, I’m worried because we’re bringing a clown before a judge for having done his job,” Dani Mateo told reporters after appearing before a judge probing his case in Madrid.
“That worries me a lot for the image it gives of my country and my flag.”
A police union made an official complaint after his sketch on October 31, denouncing an “affront to Spain (and) its symbols.”
The sketch, broadcast on popular satirical television show El Intermedio, saw Mateo sneeze and blow his nose on the Spanish flag, before ironically apologising profusely, saying he hadn’t wanted to “offend the Spanish, the king or the Chinese who sell these rags.”
In a subsequent tweet, the Guardia Civil police force retorted that the flag “symbolises the union…
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