Cope radio faces more problems

A Spanish judge has ordered an investigation to see whether the Cope radio network caused "serious injury" to the president of the regional Catalan government during a program that satirically alluded to his drinking habits. Pasqual Maragall, (left) the president, filed the complaint against the moderators of La Linterna or "the flashlight," which is broadcast over the national network. Maragall said that he was offended during the July 4 broadcast when a humorist identified only as Fray Josefo read an essay that portrayed him as a hearty imbiber.

"History has put me here,"Fray Josefo read on the air. "My sensitivity sometimes escapes me and that is the consequence of gin... Sporadically, my ego leaps without bounds when there is a lot of whiskey from Malta."

While the judge has ruled that the broadcast did not violate the country´s libel statutes because Maragall is a public figure, it could have caused him "serious injury" as defined under Spain´s Penal Code.

Cope, which is owned by the Spanish Bishops´ Conference, has all ready been in hot water with the Spanish government after a humorist in another program telephoned Bolivia´s president-elect Evo Morales last December pretending to be Prime Minister José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero. Cope had to apologize for the incident that caused a brief diplomatic row between Spain, the Vatican and Bolivia.