The verdict, delivered at the end of April, led to protests across Spain and prompted the then government to announce a review of sexual offences legislation to establish whether such crimes were adequately defined and categorised.
On Thursday the Spanish news agency Europa Press reported that the provincial court in Pamplona had ruled that the men, who have been in custody since July , could be released on bail while a higher court studied the original sentence. It apparently ordered them to surrender their passports and report to court three times a week, and banned them from entering the Madrid region, where the victim lives, and from attempting to contact her.
Both prosecutors and defence lawyers are protesting against the nine-year sentences. Under Spanish law, those convicted of a crime cannot usually be held for more than two years if a final sentence has not been handed down. Under Spanish law, sexual abuse differs from rape in that it does not involve violence or intimidation. One of the judges argued that the men should have been cleared of all charges except the phone theft. The case was widely seen as a cross-examination of the year-old woman rather than the men who attacked her.
The proceedings were criticised after the judges accepted into evidence a report compiled by a private detective hired by some of the defendants. The detective had followed the woman over several days and produced photographs of her smiling with friends.
Defence lawyers claimed the woman had consented and had let one of the men kiss her. The prosecution said the victim had been too terrified to move. Topics Spain. Rape and sexual assault Europe news. Reuse this content. Most popular.
