National Court Judge Jose Maria Vazquez Honrubia found artist Guillermo Torres and writer Manel Fontdevila guilty of defaming Crown Prince Felipe in a cartoon published in the satirical weekly El Jueves. The judge fined the journalists 3,000 euros (US$4,400) apiece in the November 13 ruling, according to international press reports. The cartoon, which ran on the front page of El Jueves' July 18 issue, showed the prince and his wife, Princess Letizia, in a graphic sexual position – an apparent reference to government efforts to boost the birth rate by offering families financial incentives. In July, a judge ordered El Jueves' entire 70,000-copy press run taken off newsstands because the cartoon insulted the royal family.

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