2023-09-12 15:19:00
In Spain, a legal loophole allowed a perpetrator of rape to see his sentence reduced from 15 to 14 years in prison. The affair sparked a lively controversy which weakened the left-wing government, which introduced a law on consent.
The reduction of the sentence of a convict in a rape case, due to a recent reform of the Penal Code, sparked strong criticism on Tuesday in Spain.
Seized by the lawyers of the accused, convicted in 2019 in the so-called “Pack” case, a gang rape by five men in 2016 in Pamplona of an 18-year-old woman, a court in Navarre reduced his sentence on Tuesday imprisonment of 15 to 14 years.
He justified his decision by the reform of the Penal Code introduced by the law on sexual violence, nicknamed “Only a yes is a yes”, adopted in October 2022 by Parliament.
Unexpected effect of the law
This reform was initially intended to strengthen the legislative arsenal against sexual violence by placing explicit consent at the center of the Penal Code as promised by the government of socialist Pedro Sanchez after the “La Meute” affair.
But by abolishing the distinction between the offense of sexual abuse and that of sexual assault, it had the perverse and unexpected effect of leading to reductions in sentences from which more than a thousand convicts benefited, to the surprise of the government, which did not had not anticipated this legal loophole.
In Spain, a sentence can be modified retroactively if the change to the Penal Code benefits the convicted person.
The right charges the socialist government
Faced with controversy, the Socialists corrected the initial text in April. But this could not prevent the sentence review pronounced on Tuesday.
“This court decision is very painful, especially for the victim. We sympathize with their pain and we know that all victims deserve reparation,” regretted Irene Montero, Minister of Equality.
The decision of the Navarre court was “unfortunately predictable, because the role of judges is to apply the laws” even “when they are poorly made”, regretted the leader of the Popular Party (PP, right), Alberto Núñez Feijóo, on Telecinco television. He accused the government of having addressed “issues as important as rape” in a “frivolous manner”.
“It is curious” that this law was adopted in reaction to the “La Meute” affair and that it ultimately “benefited” one of the condemned, criticized the president of the region of Madrid, Isabel Diaz Ayuso, a rising figure on the right, questioning the government’s “false feminism”.
The “La Meute” affair led to a huge feminist mobilization across the country in 2018 after the sentencing of the five men to nine years in prison. Faced with this indignation, the Supreme Court increased their sentences the following year to 15 years.
3919: the telephone number for women victims of violence.
“3919”, “Violence Femmes Info”, is the national reference number for women victims of violence (domestic, sexual, psychological, forced marriages, sexual mutilation, harassment, etc.). It’s free and anonymous. It offers listening, informs and directs towards support and support systems. This number is managed by the National Women’s Solidarity Federation (FNSF).
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