• LaLiga courts will take those accused of alleged racist insults against Iñaki Williams to trial in 2020

The Hate Crimes and Discrimination Service of the Barcelona Prosecutor's Office, coordinated by the prosecutor Miguel Ángel Aguilar, asks for two years in prison and a fine of 5,500 euros for an Espanyol fan who in his team's match against Athletic Bilbao held on January 25, 2020 in the field of Cornellà-El Prat was one of those who allegedly shouted "uh, uh, uh" when they changed the visiting team player

Iñaki Williams

.

This is one of the first complaints of racist insults on a soccer field to the players that can end with a prison sentence.

The prosecutor's brief indicates that when the Basque striker "was substituted on the field of play, he received boos in the form of chants by part of the spectators located in sector 108 of the stands in which the accused was located", who was identified For the police.

The Public Ministry believes that the defendant, who must sit on the bench, allegedly acted "personally, among many others, acting with obvious contempt for the black color of the player's skin, shouted against him and staged racist gestures of contempt towards his person generating feelings of frustration, shame and humiliation, with the consequent undermining of his intrinsic dignity".

"Specifically, said manifestations of contempt consisted of simulating the gestures made by primates and repeatedly shouting the sounds "uh, uh, uh, uh", an onomatopoeia that imitates the sound emitted by monkeys and, as it is public and notorious , has been uttered on several occasions by groups of fans from different countries to publicly offend soccer players of black skin color during the course of a soccer match", indicates the prosecutor's letter.

That is why he accuses the defendant of a crime of injury to the dignity of people for racist reasons when making these insults.

Initially, the procedure was against two defendants, but the prosecutor only found evidence that incriminates a follower of Espanyol.

In addition, it points out that the insults were heard in the party's radio and television broadcasts "also generating a great controversy in parallel on the same day and in the immediately following ones with great impact and repercussion on social networks about the racist chants poured towards the player".

Before the judge, Athletic Bilbao player Iñaki Williams declared that he felt "humiliated" and "outraged" by the racist shouting.

In addition to prison sentences and a fine, the prosecutor requests that the defendant be disqualified from an educational profession or trade, in the teaching, sports and leisure fields, nor can he access soccer stadiums of any category for five years.

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