Actor who 'shit on God' prosecuted for offending religious sentiments

Actor Willy Toledo has been prosecuted by a judge for offending religious sentiments.

The actor was temporarily freed without bail after being arrested on September 12, and spent a night in jail before testifying before the judge.

Toledo is accused by an association of Christian lawyers of offending their religious sentiments. The judge has now accepted the prosecution against him. Both parties have 10 days to present allegations and decide whether the case will be heard in an oral trial.

"Me cago en dios," Toledo had written in a Facebook post, literally translated into English as "I shit on God." It is a very typical Spanish expression.

"In this country, everybody shits on God at some point in the day, but I have been persecuted and judged for it for the last nine months," he told a radio station.

"I will continue shitting on God while they continue raping babies and children," he added, referring to the ongoing scandal of sexual abuse and rape cases in the Catholic Church.  

"Civil disobedience" 

The actor had been summoned to testify on two occasions. On September 12, he refused to respond directly to the Madrid judge, but instead presented his defense in writing.

Leaving court, he stated that he will abide by any decision made by the judge, but had made a gesture of "civil disobedience" to open debate and reflect on whether "in the 21st century there should still be five articles in the Spanish penal code related to crimes of offending religious feelings." 

And again, he repeated the words for which he was denounced. "I shit on God," he said, "and I have more than enough to shit all over the dogma of the holiness and virginity of the Virgin Mary."