The Civil Guard has already delivered to the Court the report on the two alleged attempts to "kill" a dog in Playa Honda, which was reported by the animal's owner. Raquel Rodríguez filed two complaints with the Civil Guard after finding pieces of chicken with hooks on the terrace of her house, convinced that they had been thrown by a neighbor of hers, who had complained about her pet's barking. Now, the Civil Guard has already collected all the information in this regard and believes that this neighbor could be the perpetrator of an alleged crime of animal abuse. However, in turn, they also believe that he could have been a victim, due to the publications that have been made about him on Facebook.
And it is that among the information that the agents have collected for that report, several publications on this social network are also included, both from the complainant and from another person, which are now being "analyzed". The Civil Guard is studying whether to initiate actions, given that one of the publications even makes a "call for a protest" to this neighbor, according to the agents.
Regarding the original complaint for animal abuse, the Civil Guard considers that there are "indications" that this neighbor could be responsible for the "throwing of food with objects potentially harmful to an animal", as Raquel Rodríguez reported. Thus, the Civil Guard has investigated him for that alleged crime of animal abuse and has transferred it to the Court, so that it is now the one who opens proceedings and resolves the facts.
Regarding another of the complainant's statements, who told La Voz that other neighbors had suffered similar problems with this person and that they even intended to go to the Civil Guard as well, the Civil Guard has indicated that no one else has "referred threats from that person" and that "there have been no more complaints".
"Call for civil responsibility" in the face of these Facebook posts
On the other hand, regarding the publications on Facebook, the complainant herself told La Voz that she had spread her problems with this neighbor through this social network. In her opinion, he was trying to "turn the tables", claiming that he was "afraid" of her because of those comments. Raquel Rodríguez defended herself by stating that she did not put her "name and surnames, nor did she intend to do so", although she did give some information about him.
Now, the Civil Guard has confirmed to La Voz that it is "analyzing" these publications. In addition, the agents are also studying another publication, from a third person who would have echoed what happened. In that comment, citizens were "summoned" through the social network to this neighbor's portal. This, explains the Civil Guard, meant a "call for a protest". Although they point out that it was "summoned", but it was not "executed", the police force explains that the call itself could even be considered an "arbitrary exercise of one's own right".
This is, in other words, the legal nomenclature for what is commonly known as 'taking justice into one's own hands', and is a crime typified in article 455 of the Penal Code. Although the Civil Guard insists that they are currently "investigating and analyzing" these publications, differentiating it from an investigation, they also point out that "actions" could be derived from the result of that "analysis". In this sense, the Civil Guard makes a "call for civil responsibility". "You cannot be replacing the functions of the security forces," they specify.