The journalist charged for covering the Futuro Vegetal protest at the Egyptian Museum in Barcelona defended this Wednesday before the judge that her action in the action was limited to exercising her profession and the right to information by recording the activists.
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As elDiario.es revealed on Tuesday, the Mossos d’Esquadra have included a journalist called by Futuro Vegetal to cover the protest as a “co-author” of the action at the Egyptian Museum. The accusation has been based on the tracking by the regional police of the social networks of the informant, Mar Sala.
The Catalan police link the reporter to the “radical social platform” Futuro Vegetal, despite the fact that in her statement at the police station the journalist claimed that her role in the protest was limited to being called by the entity to cover it, like two other photographers.
The Mossos, however, blame Sala, and not the two photographers, because he has publications on his social networks against global warming, in addition to his work experience managing the social networks of the group of scientists against climate change, Scientific Rebellion.
Unlike what happened in Madrid, the accusation of a journalist for events that occurred in the exercise of her profession has not provoked any reaction from the Association of Journalists of Catalonia or trade unions. The young woman is self-employed and has worked for different media and organizations.
This Wednesday, Sala has appeared before the judge together with the other three investigated in the case and has reiterated what he already said at the police station, that is, that his presence at the Egyptian Museum was for work. In fact, the Action Room videos ended up on all the news.
The other three investigated are the two activists who sprayed a showcase with a sarcophagus and several photographs with jam and a liquid that simulated petroleum, and another member of Futuro Vegetal who did not directly participate in the protest but rather exercised, as explained to the judge, mediation work with the Mossos d’Esquadra.
The other two activists, according to legal sources, have recognized the facts and have framed the action in a global protest against climate change. Activists stormed the center and sprayed jam on a glass case containing a 2,700-year-old sarcophagus with a mummy inside, as well as photographs by Harry Burton of the excavations of the tomb of Pharaoh Tutankhamun.
They also displayed a banner with the message: “COPCA COLA +2.5º”, in criticism of the COP27 summit against climate change that was held last November in Egypt and that the soft drink brand sponsored.
The investigation of the case is about to end, although an essential element remains: determining the damage caused to the sarcophagus. Legal sources have explained that the Egyptian Museum has not yet specified whether the sarcophagus allegedly damaged by the action of Futuro Vegetal is a replica or is real, which is key to the crime against historical heritage that the judge is also investigating.
In fact, the provisional quantification of the damage by the Museum has been dwindling. At first, the center estimated them at 25,000 euros, provisionally, including even the hours worked on the Sunday after the protest by the director of the Museum. In a second preliminary report, the Museum quantified the damage at around 16,000 euros. The definitive expert opinion on the damage has not yet been carried out.
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