In a worrying development, prominent Spanish artist Javier Krahe faces prosecution for “offending religious feelings” more than 30 years after the production of a provocative film that claimed to demonstrate a method for “cooking” Jesus Christ.
The movie finds Jesus being removed from his cross, coated in butter and placed in the oven.
Religious bodies have made previous attempts to prosecute Krahe, but have never got very far. The latest effort, promoted by a Catholic legal association, has resulted in Krahe being charged and placed on bail of €192,000.
Not surprisingly, the artist is livid. “How do you show that someone’s religious feelings have been hurt?” Krahe told El Pais newspaper, adding that he considers the prosecution to be absurd. “I’m accused of a series of things that I haven’t done. I don’t appear on television cooking Christ.”
The case has driven Spanish campaigners to lobby for a change in the law to permit genuine freedom of speech. Quite right too.
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