Alex Trelinski
THE Prosecutor’s Office is investigating ‘false’ and ‘hateful’ social media postings following last weekend’s murder of an 11-year-old boy in Toledo province.
A 20-year-old man of Spanish nationality was arrested after the boy- named Mateo- was stabbed on a football pitch on Sunday in Mocejon.
The crime sent shock waves through the town with Asell Sanchez-Vicente, cousin of Mateo’s mother, appealing on behalf of the family to stop the xenophobic and racist hoaxes and misrepresentations flooding social media.
READ MORE:
- How far-right forces in Spain used the brutal killing of an 11-year-old boy to stir up racial tensions
- Mocejon stabbing latest: ‘Killer’ says ‘his other self’ carried out fatal stabbing of boy, 11 – and that he showered at his grandparents’ house afterwards
The Hate Crimes Unit of the Public Prosecutor’s Office is studying ‘the criminal legal significance’ of certain messages posted in recent days to see ‘how far criminally it can go’ but no proceedings have yet been opened.
The postings are on social media sites that criminalise foreigners in a general way with the aim of sewing hatred, hostility, and discrimination.
The Government delegate in Castilla-La Mancha, Milagros Tolon, criticised the ‘sowers of hatred’ on Tuesday who had taken advantage of the tragic event to try to falsely link immigration with the murder.
Tolon said people on social media had turned sites into ‘a dumping ground of filth’ by hiding under anonymity to blame people with different skin colours or religion and to even attack the family spokesperson, Asell Sanchez-Vicente.
“Can you be more cruel and miserable?” she asked.
Asked if the government was going to take action, Tolon stated that this is an issue of civil society and reiterated the call for ‘common sense’.
Some social media users speculated that the alleged murderer was from North Africa or even a ‘mena’ – an acronym used in a derogatory way to refer to unaccompanied foreign children.
