Spanish Man Fined Hundreds of Euros for Calling Cops Lazy on Facebook

A 27-year-old man in the Canary Islands is facing a hefty fine under the country’s brand new - and controversial - Citizen Security “gag” law, after he called policemen “slackers” in a Facebook comment.

The Guimar resident, identified only as Eduardo D by the Spanish media, criticized local policemen, calling them a “class of slackers” in a Facebook comment, which was followed by one accusing local authorities of misappropriating a public building, and a third post criticising the money spent on police facilities. The man is now facing a fine of between €100 and €600, becoming the first Spanish citizen to be affected by the Citizens’ Security Law that went into effect this month.

According to El Pais, the man made the angsty remarks on the Facebook page belonging to Guimar town mayor Carmen Luisa Dorta. He chastised the city council’s plans to build new police facility, noting that it expected to be bigger than Spain’s Civil Guard Headquarters. He pointed out that such plans would be worthless, as all that police officers do is “rescu[e] pigeons and people trapped in their bathrooms.”

.@EuranetPlus: Franco would be proud of Spain’s new #GagLaw, the EU, not so much http://t.co/wtwFtqhIQz #Múltame pic.twitter.com/zFJKtdbPvJ

— Liz Castro (@lizcastro) 28 июля 2015

After the comments were posted, Eduardo D was visited by policemen who said that he had made “comments on social media that showed a lack of respect and consideration for Güímar’s local police” and ordered him to pay a fine, according to the Local.

In response, the man has claimed his comments weren’t serious, and that he was attempting to make a joke. He has hired a lawyer to fight the “madness” of his penalty, the Independent reported.

Spain’s new legislation, which critics complain allows officials to strictly punish and even deport people without any legal process, was described by UN human rights experts as “unnecessarily and disproportionately restrict[ing] basic freedoms.”

The success of left-wing groups in municipal elections in June has led to the implementation of several controversial new laws, including one that aims to treat animals in towns across the country as “non-human residents,” and one that creates a “Ministry of truth” in Spain’s capital, according to the Independent.