검찰 ‘연주 소음’ 피아니스트에 징역 7년 구형

Published : Nov 13, 2013 - 14:38 Updated : Nov 13, 2013 - 14:38

스페인의 한 피아니스트가 '연주 소음으로 정신적 피해 를 봤다'며 전 이웃에게 고소당해 7년 이상 옥살이를 할 위기에 놓였다.

스페인 카탈루냐 지방 헤로나시(市) 법원에서는 지난 11일(현지시간) 소음공해 등의 혐의로 기소된 피아니스트 라이아 마르틴(27)과 그 부모에 대한 첫 공판이 열렸다.

스페인 일간 엘파이스에 따르면 마르틴의 죄목은 '꾸준한 연습'이었다.

마르틴 가족을 법정에 세운 것은 북동부 푸이그세르다에서 이들의 위층에 살았던 소니아 보솜이다.

보솜은 마르틴이 2003년부터 2007년까지 매일 8시간씩 주 5일 연습을 하는 바람 에 소음에 시달려 정신적 피해를 봤다고 주장하고 있다.

검찰은 보솜이 지속적으로 피아노 소리에 노출돼 '정신적 상해'를 입었다며 마르틴 가족 3명 모두에게 징역 7년6개월을 구형했다. 또 마르틴이 4년간 전문적으로 피아노를 연주하지 못하도록 해 달라고 청구했다.

검찰은 당국의 측정 결과 마르틴이 치는 피아노의 소음도가 최대 40데시벨(㏈)

에 이르렀다고 재판에서 지적했다. 시가 악기 소리에 대해 정한 30㏈의 규제 한도를 넘어섰다는 것이다.

의료진 소견을 보면 보솜은 불면증, 불안, 공황발작, 부인과 질환 등 다양한 증 세를 보인 것으로 나타났다.

그는 피아노가 나오는 영화 장면도 견딜 수 없을 정도로 피아노라면 진저리가 난다고 재판에서 호소했다. 보솜 가족은 2007년 다른 지방으로 이사한 것으로 전해졌다.

그러나 피아노 연습을 했다고 징역형을 구형하는 것은 유례를 찾기 어려운 일이 어서 이번 사건은 스페인 내에서도 논란이 되고 있다. 마르틴은 현재 전문 연주자로 활동하고 있다.

마르틴 측은 다른 도시에서 레슨을 받았기 때문에 집에서는 거의 주말에만 연주 했고, 두 차례나 방음 설비를 설치했다며 혐의를 정면으로 부인하고 있다.

법원은 15일 심리를 종결하고 이후 평결을 내릴 예정이다.

<관련 영문 기사>

Spanish pianist could face jail for practicing

To most people, noise pollution is a jet engine roaring over their head. For one Spanish woman, it was a neighbor playing the piano more softly than a spoken conversation.

The woman has taken her neighbors in the apartment below _ a 27-year-old pianist and her parents _ to court. Now prosecutors want to send all three to jail for over seven years on charges of psychological damage and noise pollution.

In a country known for its exuberant noisiness, the case has raised eyebrows. Neighbors often complain about street and bar noise in Spain, but prosecutors seeking jail time for someone practicing the piano is unheard of _ especially since that musician is now a professional concert pianist.

At the trial in the northeastern city of Gerona, Sonia Bosom claimed she suffered noise pollution from 2003 to 2007 due to the five-days-a-week, eight-hour practice sessions of Laia Martin, who lived below her in the northeastern town of Puigcerda.

Martin, 27, denies that she played at home that often, saying she took regular classes in other towns. She claims she mostly practiced at home on the weekends.

On Monday, the first day of the trial, the El Pais newspaper reported that Bosom told the court she now hates pianos so much she can't even stand to see them in a film.

The prosecution claims that years of hearing constant playing has caused Bosom ``psychological injury.'' Medical reports showed she suffered from a variety of problems, including insomnia, anxiety, panic attacks and gynecological problems.

Bosom and her family moved in 2007 and she says she has had to take time off work, reportedly due to her problems.

The prosecutor said tests by local authorities found that the sound levels made by the piano were repeatedly up to 10 decibels higher than the 30-decibel limit laid down for musical instruments in the town. City authorities asked the family several times to either stop the piano playing or soundproof the room.

The family told the court they carried out soundproofing work twice but the complaints continued, the newspaper reported.

Nuria Blanes, an environmental scientist at the Autonomous University of Barcelona, said noise around 40 decibels ``is not very much.'' A normal conversation produces 55-60 decibels, with noise in a bar reaching 65-70 decibels and an airplane in flight producing 110-120 decibels, she said.

However, she also noted that some studies have established links to health problems such as sleep disturbances and cardiovascular disease if someone faces a constant noise level of over 40 decibels during the night.

``The norm is for 30 decibels as a nighttime limit inside a house, but some authorities are widening it to daytime, which is surprising,'' said Fernando Simon Yarza, a constitutional law professor at Navarra University. He said that may be due to the high fines that courts have forced some towns to pay for not taking action against excessive noise levels.

“Protection against noise and environmental quality is considered a human right,'' he told The Associated Press.

The prosecutors have asked for all three defendants to be sentenced to six years in jail for noise pollution and an additional one-and-a-half years for psychological damage. They have also demanded that all three be prohibited from playing the piano professionally for four years.

A Catalonia Justice Tribunal spokeswoman said the trial will end Nov. 15 with the verdict issued at a later date. (AP)