The La Manada rape case began with the
gang rape of an 18-year-old woman on 7 July 2016 during the
San Fermín celebrations in
Pamplona
Pamplona (; eu, Iruña or ), historically also known as Pampeluna in English, is the capital city of the Chartered Community of Navarre, in Spain. It is also the third-largest city in the greater Basque cultural region.
Lying at near above ...
,
Navarre, Spain. The case drew intense public scrutiny as it called into question the definition of rape under Spanish law. Five men, including a member of the
Civil Guard and another of the
Spanish Army from Seville, filmed themselves repeatedly attacking the girl in the vestibule of an apartment building.
''La Manada'' means "The
pack" in Spanish.
After their arrest and trial, the men were cleared of sexual aggression charges and instead found guilty of
sexual abuse
Sexual abuse or sex abuse, also referred to as molestation, is abusive sexual behavior by one person upon another. It is often perpetrated using force or by taking advantage of another. Molestation often refers to an instance of sexual assa ...
because the prosecution could not prove they employed violence to subjugate the victim. Thousands took to the streets in Pamplona and Spain to manifest their disapproval of the verdict.
The inquiry of the aggression uncovered footage shared on social media recorded by the perpetrators in Pozoblanco,
Andalusia
Andalusia (, ; es, Andalucía ) is the southernmost autonomous community in Peninsular Spain. It is the most populous and the second-largest autonomous community in the country. It is officially recognised as a "historical nationality". The t ...
, showing an unresponsive girl lying on their van subject to groping and derision, which gave rise to
another lawsuit.
In a sentence handed down on 21 June 2019, the Spanish Supreme Court reversed the lower court and affirmed that the men were guilty of rape, remanding José Ángel Prenda, Jesús Escudero, Alfonso Jesús Cabezuelo, Antonio Manuel Guerrero and Ángel Boza to 15 years in prison; Guerrero was given an additional two years for stealing the victim's mobile phone.
Background
![Iruñeko_bortxaketaren_auzia_11](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/72/Iru%C3%B1eko_bortxaketaren_auzia_11.jpg)
In the early hours of 7 July, an 18-year-old girl reported a rape to the Police of Pamplona, perpetrated by five young men. The girl, who was going to her car to sleep, was accompanied during a part of the journey by the group of men she had just met. She alleged that they pushed her into a doorway of a building. While some committed the crime, others recorded it on their mobile phones. She was later abandoned in the doorway and her mobile phone was stolen.
The perpetrators shared the video of the attack in a
WhatsApp
WhatsApp (also called WhatsApp Messenger) is an internationally available freeware, cross-platform, centralized instant messaging (IM) and voice-over-IP (VoIP) service owned by American company Meta Platforms (formerly Facebook). It allows use ...
group called "La Manada" ("the wolfpack"). Seven clips of this video were studied by the police in a 200-page report in which it is reported that the girl maintained a "passive and neutral" attitude, that her attitude was not "participatory" and that there was "humiliation and vexation" toward her.
After the offence, a couple in the street approached the victim and called the local Pamplona police. Following an interview with the victim, at least three police officers started a search for the perpetrators at 3.30 am.
They followed the description provided and surveyed
CCTV in the streets of central Pamplona. After tracking down the men of ''La Manada'' in the traditional
bull running
Bull running was a custom practised in England until the 19th century. It involved chasing a bull through the streets of a town until it was weakened, then slaughtering the animal and butchering it for its meat. Bull running became illegal in 1835 ...
, the local and Navarrese police arrested them on the same day around noon in the city district of San Jorge.
Trial
Charges filed
The prosecution was represented by the public prosecutor, the victim, the City of
Pamplona
Pamplona (; eu, Iruña or ), historically also known as Pampeluna in English, is the capital city of the Chartered Community of Navarre, in Spain. It is also the third-largest city in the greater Basque cultural region.
Lying at near above ...
, and the Government of
Navarre. The tribunal considered in the sentence that the victim's testimony was objectively credible, was consistent throughout the investigation, did not introduce "improbable elements" and did not have "spurious motives" to make the accusation. It considered that there was "minimal violence" and "very serious intimidation that prevented the defense of the victim" surrounded by the five men, and that they left her helpless after the event because they took her mobile phone. The defendant argued that it was group consensual sex and she had made the accusation for fear that the video could be seen by other people.
Development
A year and a half on after the aggression, on 15 November 2017, the Court of Navarre took two diverging paths concerning evidence during the inquest; it unanimously accepted as evidence a report by a private detective commissioned by the defence to track the victim's whereabouts and behaviour following her assault, ultimately aimed at showing that the victim "held normal interactions" in social networks, and undermine her case. By contrast, the tribunal rejected as evidence relevant to the lawsuit footage from
1 May 2016 in Pozoblanco, Andalusia, showing the La Manada men sitting in their van next to an unconscious 21 year-old girl, and speaking of "fucking the Sleeping Beauty", "the new
Marta del Castillo", wondering whether she was dead, as well as citing ''
burundanga'', and
chloroform.
On Thursday, 26 April 2018, five months after the trial, the Provincial Court of Navarre published its judgment. The court sentenced the five accused to nine years in prison for continued sexual abuse, although they did not find them guilty of sexual aggression (which would have meant 12 to 15 years of prison). As a result, the convicts were released on a 6,000 euro bail, until a final court decision. Amidst uproar raised by the judicial decision, opposition forces bitterly criticised the Spanish government for not incorporating into the Spanish Civil Code the
Istanbul Convention
The Council of Europe Convention on Preventing and Combating Violence Against Women and Domestic Violence, better known as the Istanbul Convention, is a human rights treaty of the Council of Europe against violence against women and domestic v ...
signed four years earlier, and for not enforcing the State Agreement against Gender Violence. On 5 December 2018, the Provincial Court of Navarre confirmed the initial sentence, with two dissenting judges who still considered that the victim was subject to aggression.
On 4 January 2019, the Provincial Court of Navarre dismissed the intent pursued by the popular accusation, i.e. the City of Pamplona and Government of Navarre, to imprison the convicts, confirming their freedom. Despite being considered a serious offence, the Court of Navarre opted to leave the convicts free on parole until the sentence is
final
Final, Finals or The Final may refer to:
* Final (competition), the last or championship round of a sporting competition, match, game, or other contest which decides a winner for an event
** Another term for playoffs, describing a sequence of con ...
, arguing "inexistence of flight risk". Ahead of the Supreme Court's final decision on the case, the Data Protection Agency imposed on one of the assailants a €150,000 fine for distributing the footage of the victim during the assault.
Final sentence
On 21 June 2019, the Supreme Court of Spain upgraded the five men's previous convictions for sexual abuse to that of continuous sexual assault, and handed down 15-year prison terms. The sentence states that the victim was "intimidated", she was "overcome by fear", and "could offer no resistance", concluding that the crime was a rape.
Antonio Manuel Guerrero received two additional years for stealing the victim's mobile phone.
The sentence also banned them from coming within 500 metres of the victim for a period of 20 years and ordered compensation totalling €100,000.
The Court of Navarre ordered the immediate detention of the five convicts for risk of flight, just as two of them were about to leave Seville.
On transfer to prison after arrest, El Prenda, one of the perpetrators, was filmed showing a smirk at the cameras. After notification of the final sentence, the Chief Bureau of the Civil Guard announced that it would initiate the procedure to remove Guerrero from the Spanish police force "as soon as possible".
On 5 July 2019, the Supreme Court issued the whole sentence, elaborating on different points that had raised controversy and the definition of sexual assault (aggression). The sentence states that "consensual sex is only made clear by explicit consent or clearly inferred from the circumstances" according to the Istanbul Convention, considers the first sentence by the Court of Navarre an 'error', and asserts that "the victim needs to show no heroic opposition, which may lead to further harm to her".
Spanish legal details
In Spain, the crime of sex without consent has 2 legal categories, sexual aggression or sexual abuse. Sexual aggression is defined as necessitating violence (''violencia'') or intimidation (''intimidación''), sexual abuse is without violence, however there are controversies regarding the interpretation of these legal terms by the public; "intimidation" is more narrow than abusing superiority or influence over the victim.
Reactions
After the first convictions, there were demonstrations in Spanish cities against the leniency of the sentence, and political and social figures voiced their disagreement. Feminist associations, such as the
7N platform, denounced the first sentence as "very bad precedent". They pointed out that once again women are held responsible for the assaults they suffer. On 22 June 2018 the five culprits were released on
bail
Bail is a set of pre-trial restrictions that are imposed on a suspect to ensure that they will not hamper the judicial process. Bail is the conditional release of a defendant with the promise to appear in court when required.
In some countrie ...
of 6,000 euros. Joseba Asiron (EH Bildu), mayor of Pamplona at the time of the assault, criticised the sentence and considered the decision to release the convicts "highly distressing". American actresses
Jessica Chastain and
Rose McGowan
Rósa Arianna "Rose" McGowan (born September 5, 1973) is an American actress. After her film debut in a brief role in the comedy '' Encino Man'' (1992), McGowan achieved wider recognition for her performance in the dark comedy ''The Doom Generat ...
expressed condemnation of the sentence.
Following the April 2018 conviction, the Civil Guard officer Antonio Manuel Guerrero and the army soldier Alfonso Jesús Cabezuelo were suspended from duty but continued to be paid 75% of their wage until all appeals had been heard. Cabezuelo was expelled from the army in October 2018. Guerrero held his position in the paramilitary police body until notification of the final sentence.
In response to the final sentence, feminist associations,
Manuela Carmena
Manuela Carmena Castrillo (; born in 1944) is a retired Spanish lawyer and judge who served as Mayor of Madrid from June 2015 to June 2019. She was a member of the General Council of the Judiciary.
Biography Early life
She was born on 9 Feb ...
,
Pedro Sanchez,
Irene Montero
Irene María Montero Gil, MP (born 13 February 1988) is a Spanish politician and psychologist, member of the Podemos party. She currently serves as the Minister of Equality of Spain since 13 January 2020. She is the partner of Pablo Iglesia ...
,
Pablo Iglesias, Joseba Asiron, and
Ines Arrimadas saluted the decision and the definition of the crime as rape.
Juan Carlos Girauta likened the rapists to the pro-independence leaders
facing trial for the 1-O 2017 Referendum, labelled 'putschists'.
When the final Supreme Court decision was pronounced on 21 June 2019, 130 feminist associations demanded that this sentence set legal precedent for the future.
Related developments
During the defendants' parole awaiting the outcome to their appeal, four members of the 'Manada' were subject to prosecution for another sex abuse case involving an unconscious 21-year-old woman lying unresponsive on the defendants' van in
Pozoblanco
Pozoblanco () is a town in the Córdoba Province, Spain, province of Córdoba, southern Spain, in the north-central part of the Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Andalusia. It is located near the headwaters of the Guadamatil ...
, Andalusia. In late October, the convicts were declared ''
persona non grata'' in
Pozoblanco
Pozoblanco () is a town in the Córdoba Province, Spain, province of Córdoba, southern Spain, in the north-central part of the Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Andalusia. It is located near the headwaters of the Guadamatil ...
,
Córdoba, hometown of the victim of the male group's alleged assault in 2016, now under investigation.
In late November 2018, the same panel of judges in charge of "La Manada" case convicted a man from
Lodosa, Navarre, of occasional 'mistreatment' and handed down a 10-month prison term in a case in which the defendant "attempted to kill
he victim
He or HE may refer to:
Language
* He (pronoun), an English pronoun
* He (kana), the romanization of the Japanese kana へ
* He (letter), the fifth letter of many Semitic alphabets
* He (Cyrillic), a letter of the Cyrillic script called ''He'' ...
with a knife and by strangulation while she struggled for her life, with their young children watching, before eventually giving up"; the sentence cited the man's mental state as a mitigating factor. Amnesty International has denounced the hurdles encountered by victims of gender aggression in the Spanish justice system.
See also
*
Me Too movement
#MeToo is a social movement against sexual abuse, sexual harassment, and rape culture, in which people publicize their experiences of sexual abuse or sexual harassment. The phrase "Me Too" was initially used in this context on social media in ...
*
Altsasu incident (2016) The Altsasu incident is a judicial case against eight young people from Altsasu, a small town in Navarre, Spain, for their involvement in a fight taking place on 15 October 2016 at a bar in which two off-duty Civil Guard officers stationed in the ...
References
Further reading
*
External links
{{Commonscat, La Manada
* ''This article has text of
Cronología del caso 'la manada': de la denuncia por violación a la condena por abusos sexuales by newspaper
eldiario.es, under Creative Commons Atribución-CompartirIgual 3.0 Unported.
* ''This article has text o
Sentence N.º 00038/2018 of Audiencia Provincial de Navarra, March 20m 2018 in public domain.
2016 crimes in Spain
2016 in Navarre
2018 protests
Feminism in Spain
Feminist protests
July 2016 crimes in Europe
Pamplona
Sexual abuse
Violence against women in Spain
Trials in Spain
July 2016 events in Spain