In recent days, seven sales have been reported that have occurred in Asturias, the Canary Islands and Catalonia
MADRID, 19 Ene. (EUROPA PRESS) –
The number of those convicted of sexual crimes who have benefited from the new penalty framework included in the “only yes is yes” law amounts to at least 202, between lower sentence reviews and subsequent sentences in application of the norm . Since October 7, when the Penal Code reform came into force, the release of 18 people has been ordered. The last 7 penalty reductions have transpired this Wednesday and Thursday and have occurred in Asturias, the Canary Islands and Catalonia.
In Asturias, 3 reductions have been registered in application of the Organic Law of Comprehensive Guarantee of Sexual Freedom. Two of them were notified yesterday Wednesday. The first corresponds to a crime of rape by penetration, for which a man was sentenced to 13 years in prison, but with the review the sentence has now been set at 9 years and 8 months.
In the second, the prison sentence imposed on a man for an attempted sexual assault on a minor under 16 years of age has been modified. He goes from 3 years in prison to 2 years and 6 months. In the third case, notified this Thursday, the Oviedo Provincial Court has reduced the prison sentence of a person convicted of a crime of sexual assault from 9 to 8 years.
On the sidelines, the Provincial Court of Santa Cruz de Tenerife has reduced another three sentences: one from 13 years and 6 months to 12 years and 6 months for a case of sexual assault on a minor under 16 years of age; another from 3 years and 9 months to 3 years for an attempted sexual assault on a person with mental retardation; and another from 10 years to 9 years for a continued crime of sexual abuse of a minor under 16 years of age.
For its part, the Superior Court of Justice of Catalonia has reduced a prison sentence from 6 years and 6 months to 4 years and 6 months for a sexual assault committed in 2019 when leaving a nightclub in Platja d’Aro.
With the 7 new reductions recorded between Wednesday and Thursday, the number of those convicted of sexual crimes who have benefited from the ‘only yes is yes’ law has gone from 195 to 202 since last Tuesday.
With the 7 new cases, sentence reviews and sentence reductions are confirmed in 17 autonomous communities.
According to the data collected so far by Europa Press, there are 35 sales in the Basque Country, 21 in Galicia, 20 in Madrid, 20 in Andalusia, 18 in the Balearic Islands, 16 in Castilla y León, 15 in the Valencian Community, 12 in the Canary Islands, 12 in Asturias, 8 in Extremadura, 7 in Cantabria, 6 in the Supreme Court, 5 in Catalonia, 2 in Murcia, 2 in La Rioja, 1 in Castilla-La Mancha, 1 in Navarra and 1 in Aragon.
Of these 202 cases, 18 have led to the release of convicts: 6 from Madrid, 2 from the Balearic Islands, 2 from Galicia, 2 in the Valencian Community, 2 from Cantabria, 1 in Extremadura, 1 in Castilla y León, 1 in Asturias and 1 in the Basque Country –by order of the Supreme Court–.
Among the most substantial reductions registered, there are two in Cantabria in which the prison sentence was reduced by 7 years. Thus, those convicted went from sentences of 18 years to 11 years for a sexual assault on a young woman in a Santander hostel.
In the 202 cases registered so far, the magistrates explain that these reviews and sentence reductions are made because the Penal Code itself, in its article 2.2, establishes that the “most favorable” law must always be applied to the prisoner.
The law of ‘only yes is yes’ has caused the crime of sexual assault to absorb that of sexual abuse, which means that a crime that until now included a more serious conduct incorporates a less serious one, so that the criminal fork also It has been expanded to cover the full range of behaviors now punishable as sexual assault.
Thus, the legal sources consulted by Europa Press explain that the number of cases in which the discounts are applied will continue to grow due to the pending reviews in all the autonomous communities.
The Supreme Court assured in its ruling on the ‘Arandina case’ that the application of the Organic Law of Comprehensive Guarantee of Sexual Freedom is “mandatory” because it is “more favorable” to the prisoner.
The High Court had to make use of the penal modification when reviewing the sentence of the ‘Arandina case’ and sentenced two former players of that football club to 9 years in prison -and not 10, as requested by the Prosecutor. the law of ‘only yes is yes’.
The magistrates raised the sentences – from 4 and 3 years that the TSJ of Castilla y León had set – after eliminating the mitigation that had been appreciated due to the closeness of age and maturity between the convicted and the victim.
The Supreme Court has already reduced 6 prison sentences related to crimes of sexual assault since the reform of the Penal Code entered into force. One of them has led to a release in the Basque Country.
The sources consulted explain that, although the ‘Arandina case’ was a first manifestation, it does not serve to establish doctrine because it is a matter that was already pending an appeal and had legal elements to consider beyond the new law.
The same sources indicate that for the Supreme Court to clarify the rules of application of the ‘only yes is yes’ to final judgments, it will have to rule in the same sense in similar cases. And until they achieve it, it could take months, they point out.