Arte, religión y Derechos Fundamentales. La libertad de expresión artística ante la religión y los sentimientos religiosos (algunos apuntes al hilo del caso Javier Krahe)

This paper analyses a judgement issued by a Spanish Criminal Court against Javier Krahe, a renowned Spanish singer and composer. In a decision of 2012 the Court had to decide whether the artist had violated article 525.1 of the Spanish Criminal Code, which punishes the public offence against religious beliefs. The matter of the case was focused in a video titled «Cómo cocinar a un Cristo»/ i.e., «How to Cook a Christ» made by Krahe and a friend in 1977, broadcasted again by a TV channel in 2004. Even
though the ruling found them both not guilty, the case re opened the debate on the need to establish the frontiers between freedom of artistic expression and the offence to others religious beliefs. The author discusses the issue in comparative law and supports that article 525.1 of the Spanish Criminal Code does not comply with the Spanish
Constitution as it limits unduly the fundamental right to artistic expression. It is sustained that this constraint cannot be justified by virtue of the right to respect for religious beliefs, as this right does not lie within the
scope of the right to religious freedom protected by article 16 of the Spanish Constitution.