DIRECTO | La tensión en el exterior de la Audiencia de Navarra aumenta por la indignación contra la sentencia. “Queremos justicia”, gritan #LaManada https://t.co/rnveJP31zH pic.twitter.com/dVXEc6NXH3
— EL PAÍS (@el_pais) April 26, 2018
Cinco agresores meten a una mujer en el portal y la violan. Es evidente que hay intimidación. Que actuaban en manada. Que hay agresión. Esta sentencia debería ser de violación. Mientras la justicia no nos proteja nos cuidaremos entre nosotras. No estamos solas #HermanaYoSiTeCreo
— Irene Montero (@Irene_Montero_) April 26, 2018
Spanish criminal law makes a distinction between sexual “abuses” and “aggression.” The accused were found guilty of the first charge, but cleared of the second, which implies “intimation and violence.”
13:46: Besides the lean sentence, Spanish media and activists are asking why the accused were found guilty of “an act of sexual abuse” but not guilty of rape or “sexual aggression” – which would have carried a stronger sentence.
13:41: More than 100 local and international journalists sought accreditation for the small regional court to hear the sentence, reports El Mundo.
13:38: The case has gripped Spain over the last two years and there has been an outpouring of outrage at the act and support for the victim, using the hashtag #YoTeCreo (I believe you) on social media networks.
13:33: Feminist and activist groups had called for a much stronger sentence. Some expressed disappointment that the perpetrators did not get the full sentence called for by prosecutors in what is considered a landmark case in Spain.
¡9 años por VIOLAR en lugar de los 22 años que pedía la fiscalía!
Todas a la calle #LaManada #yotecreo #HermanaYoSiTeCreo #YoSiTeCreo #EstaEsNuestraManada— SuperVioletas (@SuperVioletas) April 26, 2018
13:27: Neither the victim nor the accused were present when the sentence was read, reports Spanish daily El Pais.
13:22: The court in Navarra, in the Basque autonomous region, has sentenced the five accused from Sevilla to a nine year prison sentence. Spain's public prosecutor had been pushing for a sentence of at least 22 years and 10 months for each of the accused, reports El Mundo. The regional prosecutor in Pamplona had been pushing for a 25-year sentence.
La Audiencia de Navarra condena a 9 años por un delito continuado de abuso sexual a los cinco acusados de la violación grupal en los Sanfermines de 2016
— Tribunal de Navarra (@tsjn) April 26, 2018
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READ ALSO: Anger in Spain over Pamplona festival gang rape caseBackground
The case, known in Spain as 'La Manada', has galvanized women's rights group and campaigners against domestic violence in Spain. Twenty four hours before the verdict, a group campaigning against violence against women – Lunes Lilas y Gafas Moradas – released a video showing solidarity with the victim and calling for a maximum sentence.
The accused, José Angel Prenda, Alfonso Jesús Cabezuelo, Ángel Boza, Jesús Escudero and A.M.G., allegedly gang raped the 20-year old victim in the early hours of the festivities in 2016.
One of the accused met the victim, known only as C., on a park bench in Pamplona at 2.50am. The accused's friends later joined them and offered to walk the victim back to her car, where she was sleeping.
They allegedly forced her into a flat en route and each raped her. El Mundo has the full timeline of alleged events here.
The accused are known as 'La Manada' or the 'Wolf Pack' after names they used to describe themselves in a WhatsApp group. The graphic and violent messages exchanged by the accused in a WhatsApp group suggested the act was premeditated, although the messages were not admitted as evidence in court.
READ MORE: #MeToo: Dozens come forward with stories of sexual assault by Spanish tour guide