Judges fight government’s abuse of power

 TWO HUNDRED Spanish judges have rebelled against the double acquittal of four Catalan policemen charged with torturing a Romanian man.

The judges have signed a manifesto to complain about the Government’s “abusive use” of the power to acquit people after they have been sentenced.

In 2008, Barcelona provincial court sentenced four Mossos d’Esquadra (Catalan regional police) for torturing and injuring a Romanian man who had been mistakenly arrested.

The sentence was confirmed by the Supreme Court, but in February, the government reduced the prison sentences to two years and instead of them being banned from the force, they were temporarily suspended.

They were due to enter prison on December 10, but the government has now decided that they will not see the inside of a cell and now reduced the sentence again, to mere fines.

The judges say that the government has done “shows a lack of respect for the thousands of police officers who democratically carry out their jobs every day, defending and promoting the rights of citizens.” They also say the government’s actions go “against human dignity by failing to persecute an act of torture” and “seems to encourage behaviour which should be eliminated from any police force”. 

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