In Tenerife, a man was convicted of harassing his gay neighbors.
In Tenerife, a man was sentenced to 6 months in prison and ordered to pay compensation for harassing his gay neighbors for four years, although the court did not recognize it as a hate crime.
In Tenerife, a man has been sentenced for harassing his gay neighbors for 4 years. He was sentenced to 6 months in prison for "a crime against moral integrity."
In addition, he was banned from communicating with the couple who live in the same building as him for a year and a half. He must also pay each of them 3,000 euros in compensation for moral damages. Initially, he was also accused of making threats, but this charge was dropped. The court also took into account that the case had been pending for a very long time.
It turned out that from 2016 to 2020, the man, who lived opposite the couple, constantly insulted them because of the renovations and parties. He used homophobic language to humiliate them.
The court decided that the man did not want to discriminate against his neighbors because of their sexual orientation, but simply wanted to humiliate them because of a conflict that arose over the renovation. The court also took into account that the man had not previously been seen engaging in homophobic behavior on social media or elsewhere, and does not belong to any groups that express hatred towards certain groups of people.
The verdict states that it was not proven that he acted out of "antipathy, insult or hatred" towards these people because of their homosexuality. But his statements were offensive and humiliating, and he used them for a long time.
As a result, the victims felt "powerless, worried and insecure" and were even afraid to go outside.
The prosecution insisted that this was a hate crime and demanded a year and a half in prison, a fine of 1,800 euros, a ban on communicating with the victims for two years, and a ban on posting for four years.
Alternatively, the prosecution suggested that this could be a crime against moral integrity with the aggravating circumstance of homophobia. In this case, they demanded two years in prison and a ban on approaching the victims, which would have forced the man to leave the house.
This is the third case this year in which a court in Tenerife has convicted someone of crimes related to homophobia.