The actress and monologist Ane Miren Hernández Unda, known as Ane Lindane, will stand trial in Bilbao (Basque Country) for an alleged crime of public mockery following the desecration she carried out in June 2025 at the church of Saint-Laurent de Arbérats-Sillègue in France. The Court of First Instance of Bilbao has ordered the opening of oral proceedings, and the prosecution is seeking an eight-month fine for her.
The events took place on June 29, 2025, during the Euskal Herria Zuzenean (EHZ) festival. In front of around 200 people, Lindane climbed onto the altar of the church—which had not been deconsecrated—took a crucifix, and simulated masturbating with it while shouting in Basque «Hil da Jainkoa!» («God is dead!»). She later shared the images on her social media along with a message stating that she had «defiled, blasphemed, and denounced the abuses of the Church».
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The case will finally go to trial
The opening of oral proceedings marks a new step in a process that began after the images of the performance were made public. The Spanish Foundation of Christian Lawyers, acting as the prosecution, charges Lindane with the crime of public mockery under Article 525 of the Criminal Code and is requesting an eight-month criminal fine.
The case has a particular feature: the events took place physically in France, but the proceedings are being conducted in Spain.
During the investigation, the jurisdiction of the Spanish courts was debated. The prosecution argues that the subsequent dissemination of the video and the accompanying comments had effects in Spain, an argument that, according to the known information from the proceedings, has been upheld by the Provincial Court of Biscay.
Lindane appeared as an investigated person in Bilbao in December 2025. At that time, she argued that she had posted the video while still in France and expressed confidence that the case would be dismissed.
Eight months later, the case has not been dismissed, and the Court of First Instance of Bilbao has ordered it to proceed to oral trial. No date for the hearing has been announced yet.
The church had not been deconsecrated
The performance did not take place in a former church converted into a cultural space. Saint-Laurent retained its status as a Catholic church and had not been deconsecrated by ecclesiastical authority.
Lindane herself acknowledged this circumstance when she shared the images. In her posts, she noted that she had performed in front of around 200 people «in a church that had not been deconsecrated».
The monologist later framed the scene as a protest against sexual abuses committed within the Church. According to her explanation, she decided to include the act upon discovering that her performance would take place inside an actual church.
The performance culminated on the main altar, where she took the crucifix and simulated a sexual act with it while shouting «God is dead!».
Msgr. Aillet described the incident as «sacrilege and desecration»
The use of the church prompted a reaction from the Bishop of Bayonne, Lescar and Oloron, Msgr. Marc Aillet, in whose diocese the church is located.
The prelate publicly described the events as «sacrilege and desecration» and later celebrated a Mass of reparation for what had occurred in the sacred place.
The reparative celebration took place after it was confirmed that the church fully retained its status as a place of Catholic worship when it hosted the festival.
A crime of public mockery
The trial will now have to determine whether the performance and its subsequent dissemination constitute the crime provided for in Article 525 of the Spanish Criminal Code.
The provision punishes those who, «in order to offend the feelings of members of a religious confession», publicly mock their dogmas, beliefs, rites, or ceremonies or publicly insult those who profess them. The existence of such offensive intent will therefore be one of the issues the court will have to assess.
Lindane maintains that her performance was protected by freedom of expression and artistic creation. After learning of the opening of oral proceedings, she has publicly reiterated her intention to defend that position in court.
The judicial decision comes almost fourteen months after the desecration of the French church and turns into an oral trial a case whose viability had been questioned both because the performance took place outside Spain and because of its fit within the criminal limits of freedom of expression.