Many people, including a holding aloft a puppet, gather outside the city of Madrid to support two puppeteers arrested Friday for using a sign saying “Alka-Gora ETA”, a pun
MADRID (AP) – Protesters marched on Saturday in Madrid and the city of Granada, in southern Spain, to demand that the charges against two puppeteers who were imprisoned because they had allegedly praised terrorism withdraw.
the puppeteers had been arrested on February 6 without bail for displaying a sign for a show in Madrid saying “Alka-Gora ETA” ( “Live Alka-ETA”), a play on words referring to the armed Basque group ETA and Al Qaeda.
A court released the Wednesday detainees, but continues to run a judicial investigation of the satirical show puppeteers. The glorification of terrorism is a crime in Spain
More than 2,000 protesters marched in the rain from the Plaza Puerta del Sol to the Ministry of Justice.; many wore masks gagged theater and placards demanding the exemption of the puppeteers.
The protests reflected the increased public resentment against what some describe as a disproportionate punishment for an alleged crime. Prior mobilization for the puppeteers took place on Wednesday in Madrid.
The puppet show, funded by Madrid, included scenes of the hanging of an effigy of a judge and beatings by the police, which elicited complaints from parents who came with children to function.
the mayor of Madrid, Manuela Carmena, had apologized to the parents for the show, but condemned the imprisonment of the puppeteers and noted that that penalty was disproportionate.
Carmena launched an investigation into the reasons why the city authorities were unaware of the content of the show and mistakenly promoted as suitable for all ages.
the show was commissioned as part of the celebrations of Carnival
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