Two Spanish journalists sentenced on 23 December 2009 to suspended jail terms of one year and nine months each for “revealing secrets” have appealed their criminal convictions at a Madrid penal court, Spanish newspaper El Mundo reported on Wednesday.

Daniel Anido, director of ‘Ser’ radio broadcaster, and Rodolfo Irago, the station’s news director, received the suspended sentences for the 2003 publication on the station’s website of a list of individuals implicated in an alleged membership scandal in a Madrid branch of one of Spain’s main political parties, the Partido Popular.

The court’s decision also bans Anido and Irago from practising journalism for the duration of their terms.

The individuals named by the station were alleged to have joined the party solely to influence an internal election process, with the aim of favouring the business interests of two local construction companies.

In its December decision, the court recognised that the journalists believed they had acted honestly.

However, when reaching his decision, the judge hearing the case decided that Internet journalism didn’t enjoy the same level of constitutional protection as other forms of media, El Mundo reported.

In their appeal statement, the two journalists said their punishment “flagrantly violates the right to information, condemns the messenger, and is an attempt to muzzle the media.”

The journalists also claim that the publication of the list of names cannot be considered criminal as “the list was a very significant document for proving the truth of the information itself,” and the local Partido Popular president had already denounced the alleged membership fraud.

“The Spanish justice system has a chance here to set the record straight,” said IPI Director David Dadge. “The convictions against these two journalists must be overturned. This was an appalling decision for a European democracy. Journalists must be able, anywhere in the world, to report on matters in the public interest, without fear of criminal charges.”

According to El Mundo, Madrid’s provincial prosecutor has also appealed to have the journalists’ sentences reduced, asking instead for a five-month sentence that could be substituted with a 4,500 Euro fine.