The young man, who was charged with disorderly conduct, defended himself in Spain’s national court, saying he was joking.
advertisementIn the summer of 2022, Aditya V was at London’s Gatwick Airport about to board a flight to Menorca, Spain.
Just before boarding, the young British man decided to send a photo of the check-in area to seven of his friends via the social network Snapchat. The photo included the phrase he wrote himself: “On my way to blow up a plane, I’m part of the Taliban.”
British intelligence discovered the message when the plane was already over France and decided to alert Spain as the plane was scheduled to land on a Spanish island.
The Ministry of Defense believed the passengers were terrorists and sent a Eurofighter to escort the plane.
On Monday, the young man defended himself in Spain’s national court, facing a lawsuit charging him with disturbing public order and demanding payment from Spain’s Ministry of Defense for the 94,782.47 euros it cost him to deploy the Eurofighter.
He defended himself in front of the judge, saying it was “just a joke” and that he did it because “my friends were always making fun of me because of my Pakistani features”.
According to the Spanish newspaper, the young man explained that he could see the Eurofighter from the plane’s window, but did not think it was there because of a message he had sent thinking it was a training exercise for the Ukraine war.
With the help of an interpreter, the young man was able to tell his side of the story. He claimed he had no idea the prank would go this far and had only shared his photo with his group of friends.
The problem was that one of his friends had connected to the airport’s public Wi-Fi, and the photos ended up in the hands of British intelligence.
“The prosecutor asked the young man: ‘Did you not consider that you could cause fear?’
Spain’s criminal code stipulates that anyone who “falsely simulates a situation of danger to the community” that requires the assistance of the police or emergency services will be “punished.”
Sentencing was scheduled to be handed down in court after Monday’s testimony.