Advertisement

Spanish court sticks to nine-year sentence for 'Wolf Pack' sexual abusers

AFP
AFP - [email protected]
Spanish court sticks to nine-year sentence for 'Wolf Pack' sexual abusers
Photo: AFP

A Spanish court said Wednesday it has confirmed a disputed nine-year jail term given to five men for sexually abusing a woman, despite two out of five judges believing the gang committed rape and calling for tougher sentences.

Advertisement

A Spanish court said Wednesday it has confirmed a disputed nine-year jail term given to five men for sexually abusing a woman, despite two out of five judges believing the gang committed rape and calling
for tougher sentences.

The men had been accused of raping the woman, then aged 18, at the entrance to an apartment building in Pamplona on July 7, 2016, at the start of the popular week-long San Fermin bull-running festival.

The five filmed the incident with their smartphones and then bragged about it on WhatsApp where they referred to themselves as "La Manada," or "The Pack" in English.

In April, they were handed nine years each in jail for sexual abuse but judges acquitted them of the more serious offence of sexual assault, ruling there had been no violence or intimidation.

Both parties appealed the sentence, which sparked furious, nationwide protests.

But on Wednesday, the high court of the northern Navarra region confirmed the ruling.

It said there had been no proof of violence, and that it was too difficult to discern whether intimidation took place given the lack of obvious show of force or threats towards the victim.

Under Spanish law -- which the government is now considering reforming -- there has to be evidence of violence or intimidation for an offence to be classified as a sexual assault.

But two out of five of the male judges disagreed, the statement said.

They called the assault "an act of intimidation and coercion created by all of them, laying a trap for the victim given the near zero possibility she had of escaping."

The two judges said it had been rape on the basis of the "degrading" acts inflicted on the victim and the fact that she was left on the ground "half naked", while one of the offenders grabbed her mobile and took out the memory cards.

The two judges concluded each of the men should have been jailed for 14 years, three months and one day.

Prosecutors had asked for prison terms of 22 years and 10 months. All five judges also ruled that the filming of the assault had violated the victim's privacy and ordered the court that first judged the case to issue another sentence for that offence.

Both parties can still appeal to the Supreme Court. 

More

Join the conversation in our comments section below. Share your own views and experience and if you have a question or suggestion for our journalists then email us at [email protected].
Please keep comments civil, constructive and on topic – and make sure to read our terms of use before getting involved.

Please log in to leave a comment.

See Also