MOSCOW, August 17 (Sputnik), Daria Chernyshova — The Spanish government coming to power following the upcoming December 20 elections must restore human rights in the country repealing the Public Security Law, also know as the "gag law," a representative of a prominent human rights organization told Sputnik.
"All political parties have to change the current situation. Economic crisis have had a huge impact on human rights in Spain. So we ask, we demand on any political party who will reach power to make changes in respect of human rights," Ignacio Jovtis, research and policy manager at Amnesty International Spain, said.
"The general election will be in a few months and now there is no time to make the whole process, but we hope the process starts as soon as possible, and the next government will reform the law in order to return human rights to Spain," Jovtis told Sputnik.
The new law stipulates fines for those who insult police officers, refuse to be identified and post photographs of police officers on social media.
The lower house of the Spanish parliament approved the bill mid-December 2014, triggering large protests across Spain.
It is not possible to enforce Spain's recent Public Security Law as the line between what is legal and what is illegal is blurred, Jovtis said.
"If the distribution of an image is not authorized, then a fine can be imposed. The question is – who has to authorize the distribution of this recording? And the second – the fine can be imposed when the success of an ongoing operation is endangered. But what is a success? There is no definition in the law, and therefore we think that it is too wide," Jovtis explained to Sputnik.
Jovtis stated that with the enforcement of the so-called gag law, judges will have less evidence in court, as people will not be authorized to take pictures, as it could be violation of the law.
