Altsasu incident (2016)

Judicial statements and evidence According to the judge, the two Spanish policemen were dressed in civilian clothes. At the local Altsasu festival, a number of youngsters approached them in the bar, asking them to leave. The policemen asked to be left alone but "later on, twenty-five other people approached them, with fifteen or twenty of them insulting and beating them until the patrols arrived". Iñaki Abad, one of the convicted youths, recorded a video on his mobile phone showing the Civil Guard officer who, according to the prosecution, had been "brutally battered on the ground", walking in a clean, white shirt moments after the events; he then walks over to Abad and smacks his phone away, but eventually shakes hands and talks with one of the defendants. The footage, which calls into question the prosecution's case, was initially rejected as evidence by the special tribunal, but was later accepted after it was made public. Besides this evidence, the tribunal dismissed another piece of evidence submitted by the defense, namely witnesses and other footage of the incident of the events and afterwards, as well as pictures depicting the actual dimensions of the bar where the attack took place, as denounced by the defense. Media attention and build-up The incident immediately attracted a great deal of attention from the main Spanish media, echoing straight-away the Civil Guard's report, with their headlines highlighting that 50 people had attacked two Civil Guard officers. A convoy of over 20 Civil Guard SUVs rushed into the town, as shown on the media. The alleged aggressors handed themselves in to the regional police and the jurisdictional tribunal in Pamplona. They were subsequently released, having been charged. The interior minister Jorge Fernández Díaz stepped in, labelling it "a hate crime", but an isolated incident, "not kale borroka", also stating that the aggression "proves the town is gripped by a social pathology". Residents for their part protested the media were "turning the town into a circus act", bitterly criticizing the 'manipulation' of the events. Four days later, the ETA victims' association Covite filed a report in the National Court against the defendants for alleged hate and terrorism offenses, as well as reporting Twitter accounts, the local movement Ospa and the campaign Alde hemendik! (Basque for "get out of here"). The National Court soon demanded the transfer of the case from its jurisdictional tribunal to the special court in Madrid, a request accepted by the Supreme Court of Spain, despite the regional tribunal's dismissal of terrorism charges. Initial charges The eight youths accused (Ohian Arnanz Ziordia, Jokin Unamuno Goikoetxea, Jon Ander Cob Amilibia, Julen Goikoetxea Larraza, Adur Ramirez de Alda Pozueta, Aratz Urrizola Ortigosa, Iñaki Abad Olea and Ainara Urkijo Goikoetxea) were charged with a string of offenses including ‘terrorism’; three of them were remanded and held under special regulations, with the others being released on bail. One of the group faced a sentence of 62 years in prison, the rest 50 years, except for one defendant liable for 12. Evolution of proceedings In February 2018, the defense recused the new judge appointed to the case, Concepción Espejel, for her marriage to a Civil Guard colonel and for holding the Order of Merit of the Civil Guard awarded by the Ministry of the Interior; the petition was declined for being 'untimely'. The hearings took place from 16 to 27 April. On 1 June 2018, the sentence was announced, with the National Court eventually dismissing the terrorism charges and finding the accused guilty of injuring and attacking an agent of the authority, aggravated with abuse of superiority, discrimination and public disorders and threats. One of the accused was sentenced to 2 years of prison, three with 9 years, two with 12 years and the remaining two with 13 years. The families, besides labeling the sentence 'outrageous' and an act of 'revenge', announced their plans to appeal. Four days later, the Civil Guard in Altsasu arrested four defendants and sent them to prison on "flight risk" grounds. On 14 June 2018, the state prosecutor appealed the sentence, arguing again that "there was terrorism" involved. Six days later, Iñaki Abad's sentence was reduced by 3 years, "due to an error", and the verdict was modified, with the judge now accepting the initial evidence given by María José, N.C., a victim of the attack, who said that Abad was not among the aggressors. On 7 March 2019, the sentence for the appeals made by the defense and the prosecution was leaked to the Spanish radio station Cadena Ser ahead of its official announcement by the National Court to the parts involved, confirming for the most part the initial verdict: no terrorism was involved but heavy sentences were still appropriate, due to aggravating circumstances, like "ideological discrimination" against the Civil Guard officers and their girlfriends. Iñaki Abad's sentence was reduced to a 6-year prison term. The final decision to the appeal filed by the detainees' relatives on the Supreme Court was issued on 9 October 2019, with the tribunal calling the aggression 'abominable' for having addressed it to Civil Guard officers, but ultimately dismissing "ideological discrimination" and "abuse of authority"; the sentence disregards the public prosecutor's statement in mid-September holding that "the Civil Guard was being targeted for their commitment to the King and the people of Spain". The convictions were further reduced to sentences ranging from one year and a half to nine years and a half; two judges out of five issued a dissenting opinion, stating that discrimination charges should have been upheld. The relatives of the youngsters condemned and their defense lawyer Amaia Izko, despite saluting the reduction of sentences, considered they did not tie in with the actual circumstances, highlighting the "lack of guarantees during the process" and the "artificial account of the events". == Statements heard during proceedings ==