Spain priest convicted

Spain
Report filed 10/6/2025

Spanish Priest Faces Three Years in Prison for Article on Radical Islam, Islamists Who Praised Taliban Sue Barcelona Priest for ‘Islamophobia’ by Jules Gomes Focus on Western Islamism FWI News

Father Custodio Ballister was convicted of Islamophobia for comments made in print and during an interview. He faces three years in prison. "...The prosecutor in the First Section of the Provincial Court of Málaga argued that the priest’s words 'far from being an exercise in press freedom, fall under the category of hate crimes'..."

"...In his column, Ballester criticized liberal Catholic hierarchs like Pope Francis for capitulating to radical Islam, especially when Islamists are persecuting Christians. The priest also praises conservative pontiffs like Pope Benedict XVI for 'denouncing what so many then and now want to silence or gloss over: the fierce persecution of Christians in Muslim countries'..."

https://www.meforum.org/fwi/fwi-news/spanish-priest-faces-three-years-in-prison-for-article-on-radical-islam​
https://thecatholicherald.com/article/spanish-priest-faces-prison-as-hate-speech-law-tests-limits-of-religious-expression

Update: acquitted
https://www.gaudiumpress.ca/spanish-priest-acquitted-in-landmark-hate-crime-case-bolstering-free-speech-protections/​