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Iran releases Spaniard held for more than a year

Iran's embassy in Spain said Sunday that it had released the last Spanish national detained in the country, a tourist who was arrested shortly after he entered the country in October 2022.

Published: 1 January 2024 11:28 CET
Santiago Sanchez Cogedor
Protestors hold portrait of Santiago Sanchez Cogedor, during a rally asking for his freedom, near the Iranian embassy in Madrid, on December 18th, 2022, as he was pulled in jail by Iranian authorities since October 2022. Photo by: THOMAS COEX / AFP

Santiago Sanchez Cogedor was held as protests were roiling Iran after the death in custody of the young Iranian Mahsa Amini, arrested for allegedly violating laws requiring women to cover their heads.

She fell into a coma after what her family said was mistreatment and died in hospital, sparking the unrest.

“The embassy of the Islamic Republic of Iran is pleased to announce the release of Santiago Sanchez Cogedor, the only Spanish citizen detained in Iran,” the Iranian embassy in Spain posted on social media.

“His release comes amid friendly and historic relations between the two countries and in accordance with the law,” the embassy added.

The royal house of King Felipe VI celebrated Sanchez Cogedor’s “return to Spain for the New Year” in a post on social media.

Sanchez Cogedor had entered Iran months after the football fan embarked in January 2022 on a long trip by foot toward Qatar to attend the World Cup in November-December.

His family lost all trace of him some weeks before the tournament started.

His last message documenting his adventures on Instagram appeared on October 1, when he wrote that he was in a village in northern Iraq and headed for the Iranian border.

A voicemail to his parents later broadcast by a television station said he was in Tehran headed for the port of Bandar Abbas, in the Strait of Hormuz, from where he intended to take a boat for Qatar.

Some days later his parents learned via the Spanish foreign ministry of his arrest, his mother Celia Cogedor told AFP in late October.

Iran is known to be holding more than 10 Western nationals, and governments and NGOs accuse Tehran of using them as bargaining chips for its own nationals.

Amini’s death became the symbol of a protest movement against enforced wearing of the hijab, and the ensuing repression of protests saw hundreds of deaths and thousands of arrests.

Tehran has accused the United States of fomenting the protests and had announced in September 2022 the arrest of nine foreign nationals from several European states including France, Italy and Poland on the alleged grounds they were linked to the protests.

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SPANISH LAW

Why Spain has decided not to ban pimping

The Spanish Parliament has rejected a draft bill by the ruling Socialists which proposed banning sexual procuring and toughening the country's prostitution laws. Why are both the left and the right against this sex work crackdown?

Published: 22 May 2024 16:23 CEST
Why Spain has decided not to ban pimping

This is the second attempt by the Socialists to carry out this proposed bill, which was rejected by parties on both sides of the political spectrum.

Even the government’s junior coalition partner Sumar voted against the move, as well as the PP, ERC, Junts, PNV and EH Bildu.

The bill aimed to punish all types of pimping, essentially profiting from the procuring of prostitution of others.

Currently, only pimps (proxenetas or chulos in Spanish) that carry out intimidation and violence are punishable, but PM Sánchez’s party has argued that the current wording of Spain’s Penal Code has led to “total impunity for pimping”. 

The aim was to expand upon article 187 of the Penal Code to imprison anyone who “promotes, favours or facilitates” the prostitution of another person “for profit”, with sentences of 3 to 6 years as well as fines.

This would be extended to a further 24 months in prison if violence, intimidation or deception were used and penalties of two to four years if pimping does not involve violence, even with the consent of the sex worker.

In addition, the PSOE wanted to be able to punish third parties who earn money for renting out properties for the purpose of pimping and prostitution with two to four years in prison and fines.

The Socialists also wanted to add an article so that those who pay for sex have a criminal charge. Anyone who agrees to “the practice of acts of a sexual nature in exchange for money or another type of benefit” is punished with a fine”, the bill read. 

The majority of the political parties denounced the proposal arguing that it was an “electoral” initiative.

Gala Pin, the deputy of Sumar stressed that her party couldn’t vote in favour of a bill that she has called “quite tacky”. “It proposes absolutely no solution, no itinerary, no alternative measure, no economic proposal for labour support, absolutely nothing,” she argued.

A woman holds up a sign that demands the abolition of prostitution during a demonstration with the motto “The strength of women is the future of all” in Madrid in 2021. (Photo by OSCAR DEL POZO / AFP)

Other members of Sumar criticised the bill saying that it was incomplete and that it didn’t address the root of the problem. Many also believe it will criminalise sex workers place women who practice prostitution in situations of greater vulnerability, without being able to defend themselves.

The party led by Yolanda Díaz added that they were in favour of “persecuting coercive pimping” but saw “large gaps” in the PSOE law, which they do not consider comprehensive, because it does not address social and economic measures such as employability, housing or training. They don’t want to allow prostitution to be eradicated. 

READ ALSO: What’s the law on prostitution in Spain?

Sex worker María Nelly and spokesperson for Stop Abolition has requested that the government allow women to continue work in prostitution if it’s something they’ve chosen.

She argues that it doesn’t seem right that they are victimised or that their clients are seen as aggressors. Nelly also told Antena 3 that she does not approve of fines being issued to clients or to the places that provide them with safe spaces to carry out their sex work.

“The majority of girls who engage in prostitution do so freely and there are very few reports of pimping,” she stated on TV programme Espejo Público.

READ ALSO: Spain’s top court reinstates first sex workers’ union

This is now the seventh time that proposed changes to prostitution laws have been rejected in parliament. 

The last changes were proposed in June 2022 and aimed to further crack down on pimping and exploitation, and punish those purchasing sex, including harsher sentences if the victim is vulnerable or underage.

At the time, the PSOE said they would not make prostitution outright illegal, but rather the exploitative activities that surround it. 

Critics of tougher prostitution laws such as those of Nordic countries argue that they lead to greater secrecy surrounding sex work, more police persecution and deportations, as well as housing problems since it can be interpreted that any property, even the home of a woman who carries out prostitution, is used by a pimp for profit.

It’s worth noting as well that Spain is among the largest ‘consumer’ of prostitution in the world (3 in every 10 Spanish men have admitted to sleeping with a prostitute) and the industry represents as much as 0.35 percent of the country’s GDP: €4.2 billion a year. 

Between 45,000 and 120,000 women work as prostitutes in Spain, according to different estimates. 

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