The SUP defends hate-crime arrests in Bilbao and criticises adviser Zupiria
The police union SUP backed the action of the National Police after detaining two radical pro-independence activists for assaulting a young man in Bilbao on 19 July.
The SUP union supports the officers who detained two radicals for the Bilbao assault
The Unified Police Union (SUP) came out on Monday in defence of the National Police officers who investigated, identified and detained two suspects in connection with the assault on a young man in Bilbao on 19 July, according to elmundo.es. The arrested individuals face charges of hate crime, public disorder and assault.
"The National Police are police 24 hours a day and must intervene in a hate crime," declared Luis Mariano Rodado, general secretary of the SUP in the Basque Country, in a direct response to Security Adviser Bingen Zupiria. Zupiria had questioned the operation that led to the capture of the two radical pro-independence activists. Rodado countered with another question: "When we receive a complaint, should we simply stand by with our hands tied?"
The assault occurred at Campuzano square in Bilbao and affected followers of the Spanish national football team. The attackers chose their victims for wearing Spanish national team shirts or Spanish flags. The officers managed to identify and detain the two suspects in just ten days, after checking their records for political violence.
Rodado broadened the context with a warning: "If they beat a young person for carrying a flag and nothing happens; they chase a child wearing a shirt in the Doña Casilda park and nothing happens; and they try to rip out cables and sabotage a giant screen and nothing happens: we won't have anything to ask how all of this could have happened".
The SUP maintained that the investigation of a hate crime falls within "shared" competencies in the Basque Country and that the events of 19 July in various Basque cities demand deep reflection on the police operations deployed. Rodado also noted that the incidents reflect a climate of restriction on freedoms: "It is clear that they no longer kill us, but they do not allow any Basque citizen to be able to live and do what they consider fit freely on the street".
The hate crime offence under the Criminal Code carries a prison sentence of between one and four years. Legal experts note that this legal figure protects not only the physical integrity of the victim, but also the constitutional values of respect, pluralism and human dignity.
The SUP general secretary also questioned the Basque Government's decision to authorise the march called by Zazpi Baietz, which was scheduled to run through the centre of Bilbao and conclude at Doña Casilda park. That same location had been chosen by the Basque PP for thousands of supporters to watch on a giant screen the World Cup final between Spain and Argentina. "They authorised a demonstration that they knew how it would end," Rodado stated, referring to the Pradales Executive.
Source: Google News ES — Crime (es)