14 years in prison requested for eleven defendants accused of assaulting two civil guards in Lanzarote

The association Independientes de la Guardia Civil has requested sentences of up to 14 years in prison for eleven people tried in Arrecife for the beating that two agents of the corps received on the island in July 2017, in events that occurred in the town of La Santa.

According to a press release from this professional association, which is acting as a private prosecutor in the trial, the agents were attacked by "a mob" when they went to attend a report of an alleged crime of violence against women.

Upon arriving at the indicated place, the guards did not see anyone, so they went to a garage where a party was being held to ask if any of those present had seen anything.

"The agents were received with insults and expressions of hatred, and were subsequently beaten unexpectedly and with extreme violence by a mob of people ten times their number, who kicked and punched them, seriously endangering their physical integrity," the IGC relates.

This group adds that one of the agents "managed to momentarily reduce the mob and rescue his partner from the place," thus "saving his life."

The private prosecution charges the defendants with two counts of aggravated assault, two counts of less serious injury, and a crime of hate and insults against members and Forces of Security of the State, for which it is seeking sentences of 14 years in prison.

In addition, it demands compensation of 60,000 euros for the injuries suffered by the assaulted officials.

The IGC maintains that its lawyers, with their accusation, "aborted" the possibility that the Prosecutor's Office would agree to a sentence in accordance with the defenses "with derisory penalties."

"We will continue working forcefully so that these aggressions do not go unpunished, eradicating the growing loss of the principle of authority and the feeling of impunity in the face of an aggression against an agent. These events demonstrate that greater legal protection is necessary for agents and a hardening of penalties for this type of aggression," says the spokesperson for this association, Daniel Fernández, in the statement.

The IGC recalls that one of the attacked agents spent 72 hours in intensive care in the hospital with danger to his life.

"These sad events are already becoming an increasingly common practice and the number of new attacks, aggressions and contempt for agents does not stop growing. According to our calculations, there is an average of close to 45 aggressions against agents every day throughout the national territory and the official statistics are quite far from reality," says Fernández.

The trial for these events was held this Wednesday in the Criminal Court number of Arrecife.