Six national police officers, one of them a sub-inspector, face possible sentences of between 12 and 15 years in prison, for alleged crimes of torture and injury committed in April 2010 at the Arrecife police station. The case began as a result of a complaint by two young men, who claimed to have been brutally beaten by several officers, after being arrested while participating in a fight in Arrecife. According to the indictment filed by the Prosecutor's Office, the officers gave "punches and blows" to the two detainees in the cells, YDLM and NJLM, with the aim of "punishing" them, since they had confronted and even hit the officers during their arrest.
According to the Prosecutor's Office, the young men committed alleged crimes of injury and assault against an agent of authority, by attacking the police while they were trying to arrest them. However, afterwards it was the police who "tortured" the detainees. In this sense, the Prosecutor's Office points out that the officers gave "punches and blows" to the arrested men in the cells of the police station, when they were handcuffed.
For the sub-inspector and another of the officers, prosecutor Yolanda López is asking for 15 years in prison, for two crimes of torture and two of injury each. For the other four, she is demanding 12 years in prison, for the same crimes. Likewise, she is asking for two years in prison for each of the young men, who were arrested by these officers. The Prosecutor's Office is also asking that they compensate the police officers with 780 euros in total, for the injuries caused.
For its part, the Prosecutor's Office is asking that the six accused police officers compensate "jointly and severally" NJLM with a total of 19,450 euros for the moral damage caused, for the days it took to heal from his injuries and for the sequelae derived from the slight aesthetic damage. Likewise, the indictment also requests compensation from the agents for YDLM of 8,600 euros. In addition, the subsidiary civil liability of the State is established.
The detainees gave "kicks and punches"
The events occurred around 12:30 p.m. on April 28, 2010. These two brothers went to a park located on Alcalde Ginés de la Hoz street, in Arrecife, where they found a third person, Y.E.M. "After cornering him against a wall, moved by the purpose of undermining his physical integrity, they began to hit him, giving him various kicks and punches."
Faced with these events, two National Police officers moved to this park, where they proceeded to require both defendants to cease the aggression. However, according to the indictment, they "ignored such requirements, to the point that the defendant YDLM, with absolute contempt for the principle of authority and for the physical integrity of the agent, confronted" the police officer, "pushing him, kicking him and punching him in the face, even brandishing a belt with which he tried to attack him."
Similarly, the other defendant, NJLM, "guided by the identical purpose of undermining both the principle of authority and the physical integrity" of the second agent of the National Police Corps, "gave him a push and a punch in the elbow."
The agents finally managed to subdue these two brothers, although with the help of four other national police officers, who came to support them commissioned by their colleagues. The indictment also indicates that NJLM "struggled" with one of the agents when he was introduced into the police vehicle and "kicked him in the mouth."
"Punish the detainee"
Already at the National Police station in Arrecife, the National Police sub-inspector and five other agents "proceeded to take NJLM from the garage to the cell area, finding him barefoot and with handcuffs on", according to the Prosecutor's Office.
Once past the access door to the cells, one of the accused police officers, "with the clear intention of punishing the detainee for his previous action in the park, failing his most elementary obligation to ensure the life and integrity of the detainees and with absolute contempt for the physical integrity of NJLM, grabbed him by the neck, making him back up and hitting him in the knee, causing the detainee to fall to the ground."
"Punches in the face and multiple blows"
According to the Public Prosecutor's Office, "the accused sub-inspector of the National Police Corps proceeded to close the access door to the cells." This was used by this sub-inspector and the other five accused police officers to, "guided by identical purposes, give him several punches in the face and multiple blows to the back and leg, using the regulation defense for this, while the accused remained handcuffed with his hands behind his back."
To heal from the injuries, the young man needed 211 days, "all of them prevented from performing his usual profession and leaving him with sequelae of slight aesthetic damage."
Subsequently, according to this same indictment, the six accused agents transferred the other detainee, YDLM, to the cells. "Likewise, as retaliation for his previous action in the park and with the identical intention of undermining his physical integrity, ignoring his most elementary duties to safeguard the physical integrity of the detainees, finding the detainee handcuffed, they gave him several punches in the face." They also hit him "with the baton on the back and abdomen." His injuries took 30 days to heal and he was hospitalized for one day.
