A total of 52 people have been released after seeing their prison sentences revised downward
MADRID, 27 Feb. (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 607, 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 52 people has been ordered. The last 25 penalty reductions have been in the Canary Islands, Andalusia, Extremadura, Galicia and Castilla y León.
Specifically, these are 25 more cases than last Thursday, when the number of people who had seen their sentences reduced reached 582. On Friday, 5 downward modifications were registered and this Monday 17 have been added only in the Canary Islands, 2 in Castilla y León and 1 in Andalusia.
In Andalusia, the Court of Seville has reduced from 12 to 7 years in prison the sentence imposed in 2008 on a man who sexually assaulted an elderly woman whom he also murdered, with which his global prison sentence is reduced from 27 to 22 years.
Regarding the number of releases by the ‘law of only yes is yes’, to the 50 that were registered last Thursday, another two have been added in recent days.
As of February 27, sentence reviews and sentence reductions are confirmed in 17 autonomous communities. According to the data collected so far by Europa Press, there are 130 in Andalusia, 74 in Madrid, 69 in the Valencian Community, 53 in the Basque Country, 53 in Galicia, 40 in the Balearic Islands, 36 in Castilla y León, 31 in the Canary Islands, 24 in Murcia , 20 in Castilla-La Mancha, 19 in Asturias, 17 in Catalonia, 11 in Extremadura, 7 in Cantabria, 5 in Aragon, 4 in Navarra and 2 in La Rioja, to which 12 are added in the Supreme Court.
Of these 607 cases, 52 have led to the release of convicts: 10 in Andalusia, 7 in Madrid, 6 in the Basque Country –1 by order of the Supreme Court–, 6 in Castilla y León, 6 in the Valencian Community, 4 in Balearic Islands, 4 in Galicia, 3 in the Canary Islands, 2 in Cantabria, 2 in Asturias, 1 in Extremadura and 1 in Castilla-La Mancha.
The cases recorded here represent a low estimate, since not all the Supreme Courts keep an up-to-date record of the number of reduction cases that are handed down in their courts. On the sidelines, hundreds of reviews have also been computed in which the judges have considered that it is not appropriate to apply the penal reform retroactively, among other reasons, because the sentence is within the range now in force.
On February 9, the General Council of the Judiciary (CGPJ) already agreed to request from the Superior Courts of Justice and the provincial courts the resolutions issued in relation to the application of the Organic Law of Comprehensive Guarantee of Sexual Freedom.
In the modifications agreed to so far, the magistrates explain that these downward revisions 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.
Until now, the Supreme Court has deliberated on the appeals filed against 23 sentences. In 14 of the cases it has agreed to maintain the sentences imposed; and in the other 9 it has deemed it appropriate to reduce the prison sentences for being more favorable to the convicted. In total, there are already 12 convicts benefited in the high court by the penal reform. One of these reductions has led to a release in the Basque Country.
