17 CASTELLS v. SPAIN JUDGMENT situation, involving numerous attacks and murders in the Basque Country; he also complained of the inactivity on the part of the authorities, in particular the police, and even their collusion with the guilty parties and inferred therefrom that the Government was responsible. It may therefore be said, and this conforms to the view held by the Government and the Commission, that in the circumstances obtaining in Spain in 1979 the proceedings instituted against the applicant were brought for the "prevention of disorder", within the meaning of Article 10 para. 2 (art. 10-2), and not only for the "protection of the reputation ... of others". 3. Necessity of the interference 40. Mr Castells noted his agreement with the Commission and emphasised the crucial importance of freedom of expression for an elected representative, as the spokesman for the opinions and anxieties of his electorate. In addition, that freedom required extra guarantees when the discussion related to a matter of public interest. This had indeed been the case in this instance; the contested article was part of a wide debate on the climate of insecurity which had prevailed in the Basque Country since 1977. The applicant's conviction had been intended to protect the authorities against the attacks of the opposition rather than the Government against unjustified and defamatory accusations; although embarrassing for the Government, the revelation of the facts in question had served the public interest. 41. The Government stressed that freedom of expression was not absolute; it carried with it "duties" and "responsibilities" (Article 10 para. 2 of the Convention) (art. 10-2). Mr Castells had overstepped the normal limits of political debate; he had insulted a democratic government in order to destabilise it, and during a very sensitive, indeed critical, period for Spain, namely shortly after the adoption of the Constitution, at a time when groups of differing political persuasions were resorting to violence concurrently. 42. The Court recalls that the freedom of expression, enshrined in paragraph 1 of Article 10 (art. 10-1), constitutes one of the essential foundations of a democratic society and one of the basic conditions for its progress. Subject to paragraph 2 of Article 10(art. 10-2), it is applicable not only to "information" or "ideas" that are favourably received or regarded as inoffensive or as a matter of indifference, but also to those that offend, shock or disturb. Such are the demands of that pluralism, tolerance and broadmindedness without which there is no "democratic society" (see, inter alia, the Handyside v. the United Kingdom judgment of 7 December 1976, Series A no. 24, p. 23, para. 49, and the Observer and Guardian judgment, cited above, Series A no. 216, p. 30, para. 59 (a)). While freedom of expression is important for everybody, it is especially so for an elected representative of the people. He represents his electorate,