By C. S. G.
The dean of the Lanzarote Bar Association, Francisco Torres Stinga, submitted a letter to the Directorate of the General State Administration on the island requesting the urgent transfer off the island of an agent from the Arrecife National Police Station, for the alleged improper treatment of detainees and lawyers. It is the first time that the entity representing Lanzarote's lawyers has filed a formal complaint against a member of a security force.
In the submitted letter, the Bar Association speaks of "undignified" treatment by this police officer towards several lawyers, and describes one of the cases, stating that a lawyer was so frightened by the treatment he was receiving that he called one of his relatives from the Police Station itself, "to inform them of his situation, fearing that something might happen to him during his stay" in that police unit.
"We understand that these are very serious events due to the treatment he gives to lawyers and the very special way he has of understanding the rights of detainees," Torres Stinga said in statements to LA VOZ.
The dean of the Bar Association explained that when he became aware of the first of these cases, "I tried to redirect the situation, but I couldn't, because I went to the hierarchical superior, Commissioner Raimundo Villanueva, as I understood that it could be a solution, but I received new news that the situation was still the same, even with more serious cases than the previous ones."
Torres Stinga specified that a lawyer "had sent me a complaint last week about the treatment she had received at the Police Station and a very special way of this agent understanding the rights of detainees, and I understood that it was an isolated event, but immediately there is a series of chain complaints and always against the same person." And he added: "To put it lightly, we are facing cases of improper treatment."
Faced with this, he brought the facts to the attention of the Island Directorate, which in turn processed them to the Delegation in the Canary Islands and the Police Headquarters in Las Palmas. The letter was submitted by the Bar Association two weeks ago.
The dean of that entity explained that "this is a complaint against a specific agent of the National Police of Arrecife who, according to the news I have, is on secondment on the island," and stressed that "this is a specific case, since there has never been any complaint from us against any member of the Civil Guard, or the National Police or against the Local Police of Lanzarote," while highlighting that the treatment with these forces has always been exquisite.
A specific case
In one of these cases, as LA VOZ was able to find out, a lawyer from the island informed the Bar Association that when a statement was being taken from a detainee whom he legally represented, the agent in question began to insult and threaten that detainee.
Faced with this, the lawyer expressed his disagreement in relation to this treatment and the alleged illegality of the procedure, requesting the cessation of the taking of the statement, whereupon the lawyer says that he received a "flood" of insults and threats from the police officer, even going so far as to frisk him and state that he could be detained.
The lawyer's fear was such, according to what he himself would have related, that taking advantage of a moment of carelessness by the police officer in question, he left the police premises, immediately reporting it to the Bar Association.
The Commissioner says he didn't know
The commissioner of the National Police of Arrecife, Raimundo Villanueva, did not want to give details on the matter. "I have just returned to my services after a vacation and I am becoming aware of the facts, so I will not be able to make statements on the matter until within two days," he told this media.
However, regarding the statements of the dean of the Bar Association that before submitting the letter he had already informed the commissioner of what was happening, he told LA VOZ that "he had told me in passing that he had something to tell me, but he never explained what he was referring to," while assuring that "officially I did not receive any complaint against anyone from the Bar Association before the presentation of this letter."
The police officer for whom the Bar Association requests at least his transfer off the island would belong to the Group against Small and Medium Drug Trafficking, recently created by the Arrecife Police Station. Weekly, that body reports arrests against people who, in most cases, were carrying small amounts of hashish.
