Spanish judge orders man to tweet court sentence for 30 days

Businessman found guilty of defamatory tweets says he will appeal and will 'never' tweet the ruling

A court in the southern Spanish city of Seville has put a new spin on the classic classroom punishment of writing out lines by ordering a businessman found guilty of defamation to tweet his court sentence every day for the next 30 days.

The case, which came to light this week, dates back to 2013, when Rubi(C)n Sinchez, a spokesman for the Spanish consumer rights group Facua, launched a legal challenge against Luis Pineda, who runs a rival consumer rights organisation, over hundreds of defamatory tweets. Sinchez and his legal team argued that Pineda had spent the previous two years using Twitter to launch baseless accusations of corruption, theft and fiscal fraud against Sinchez.