Spain: Police convicted of ill-treatment
01 January 1991
Spain: Police convicted of ill-treatment
artdoc February=1996
SPAIN: SPANISH LAW-ENFORCEMENT OFFICERS CONVICTED OF
ILL-TREATING
TWO TOURISTS FROM DENMARK
AI INDEX: EUR 41/02/95
24 MAY 1995
Four years after assaulting two tourists in Ibiza, five
Spanish
law-enforcement officers were found guilty of ill-treatment
and of causing physical and mental injuries.
"There has been a major failure of the judicial system to
conduct a fair and thorough investigation into the assault of
the two tourists," Amnesty International said. "A proper
investigation was only held following the publicity given to
their case in the Spanish and foreign media and as a
consequence of the personal intervention of the Attorney
General."
Mohamed Hegazy, a taxi driver from Copenhagen, and his
friend, Raed Shibli, were stopped by a patrol car of the
paramilitary Civil Guard, supported by municipal police, in
the town of San Antonio Abad in September 1991.
The officers later claimed that the two tourists had reacted
violently when they were stopped and had therefore to be
subdued by force. The were taken to the local police station
where Mohamed Hegazy, in particular, was given a prolonged
beating with a truncheon on his arms, buttocks, back and legs.
He was in handcuffs at the time.
The Civil Guard officer chiefly responsible for this assault
acknowledged at the trial that he had beaten Hegazy with a
truncheon for approximately 15 minutes to "calm him down"
because of his defiant attitude.
In September 1991 Hegazy and Shibli registered a judicial
complaint against the officers. The judge requested to
conduct the investigation into their complaint of
ill-treatment ordered that the proceedings be halted after one
and a half months.
This decision was made even though the court had never
interviewed the two complainants and despite the extensive
medical and photographic evidence of their injuries.
Hegazy and Shibli were accused at the same time in another
action of refusing to obey the officers' orders and of causing
them injuries. In July 1993 they were sentenced to one month
and one day's imprisonment for resisting arrest, but acquitted
of injuring the officers.
The case received widespread publicity in Spain and as a
result the Attorney General personally intervened and
requested the reopening of the inquiry into Hegazy's and
Shibli's complaints. In March 1995, nearly four years after
the original assault, the five officers were brought to trial.
An Amnesty International delegate observed the trial.
All the officers were found guilty and sentenced to terms of
imprisonment of up to 30 days. Hegazy and Shibli were also
awarded financial compensation for damages of up to half a
milion pesetas (over POUNDS STERLING 2,600) and the officers
were ordered to pay the trial costs.