Hitler court case decision

The Court of Funchal acquitted Eduardo Welsh of an accusation of defamation and abuse of press freedom, for having published a photomontage of the President of the Regional Government of Madeira, Alberto João Jardim, dressed as Hitler, on the cover of the ‘Garajau’ newspaper.

The decision considered the Public Prosecutor’s accusation to be unfounded and also acquitted the accused of paying the 5.000 Euro compensation demanded by Jardim.

The judge cited jurisprudence of the European Court of Human Rights in his extensive analysis of the constitutional right to freedom of expression when this collides with the constitutional right to good name, reputation and image.

He concluded that Jardim’s character had not been smudged by the caricature which aimed to criticize acts of ‘intolerance’, ‘incitement to violence’ and his recurrent use of ‘subliminally aggressive’ language to attack political opponents.

Jardim was condemned to pay the costs of the court fees.