Woman fined £570 for taking picture of illegally parked police car

She captioned it: “You park wherever your balls feel like it and, on top of that, they don’t fine you for it”.

Local news website Petreraldia.com reported that she took the photo down the next day but that did not stop police from fining her under the Citizens Security Law, popularly known as the “gag law”, which came into effect on July 1. He added that in urgent situations the police have to park where they can.

These and other incidents have led to demonstrations across Spain, including the first-ever virtual political demonstration, since protestors who convene outside government buildings could face fines of up to 600,000 euros, or $664,680.

She has been fined 800 euros (about $900) for criticizing the law enforcement agency on social media.

As for the severity and risk the Facebook photo posed, Portillo said the woman had impugned the officers’ honor by sharing the picture – even though the image did not show any police officers, just the auto.

Fernando Portillo, a spokesman for the local police, said the officers had parked in the disabled bay because they had been called to deal with an incident of vandalism in a nearby park.

Asked how the post qualified as jeopardizing police officers or operations, he answered, “We would have preferred a different solution, but the police have the legal right to impose the fine”. It has been condemned by Amnesty worldwide, which maintains that it is sometimes necessary to take photos of law enforcement to establish if they have used excessive force.

New public security laws were introduced in July and allow for fines for a number of offences, including unauthorised protests and photographing police without permission.