In recent days, 36 new sales have been announced in Asturias, the Balearic Islands, Castilla-La Mancha, Galicia and the Basque Country
MADRID, 1 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 374, between lower sentence reviews and subsequent sentences in application of the rule . Since October 7, when the Penal Code reform came into effect, the release of 24 people has been ordered. The last 36 sentence reductions have come to light on Tuesday and Wednesday in Asturias, the Balearic Islands, Castilla-La Mancha, Galicia and the Basque Country.
In Asturias, the Court of Oviedo has agreed to three new sentence reductions: from 6 to 5 years and 6 months for a man who sexually assaulted a minor; from 64 years and 6 months to 55 years and 6 months to a person convicted of two consummated rapes and one attempted rape; and from 17 to 6 years to a man convicted of a sexual assault on a minor.
In Galicia, the Court of Pontevedra has issued another two reductions. In one case, it has modified the prison sentence imposed on a man who raped a woman outside a nightclub in Tui in 2016 from 6 to 4 years. And in the other, it has reduced the prison sentence from 8 to 6 years. a man convicted of repeatedly sexually assaulting his partner’s daughter when she was 14 years old.
In addition, the Court of A Coruña has agreed to reduce from 13 years to 12 years and 4 months the prison sentence for a man who raped -along with another person who was not identified- a student from the University of Santiago de Compostela to the one he met in a pub.
In the Basque Country, the Court of Guipúzcoa has reduced the prison sentence of a young man convicted of sexual assault on a minor at parties in the Gipuzkoan town of Zarautz in 2017 from 6 to 4 years.
In the Balearic Islands, according to data from the Prosecutor’s Office consulted by Europa Press, a total of 28 downward reviews of people convicted of sexual crimes have been recorded. This figure includes the 10 that were computed so far, so this Wednesday 10 new cases would have to be added. Of the 28 cases, 23 have had the criteria against the Public Ministry.
For its part, in the Superior Court of Justice of Castilla-La Mancha they have recorded 19 new reductions in their provincial hearings; one of them has led to a release.
With these 36 new reductions recorded, the number of those convicted of sexual crimes who have benefited from the penal reform has gone from 338 to 373 since Monday.
On January 20, the Minister of Justice, Pilar Llop, regretted that the “only yes is yes” law had not had “the desired effects” and assured that in the field of transitional law the Government “thought that another type of response” in line with the proposal by the State Attorney General’s Office.
Last Monday, the spokesperson for the PSOE Electoral Committee, Pilar Alegría, assured that the parliamentary group will present “as soon as possible” a bill to reform the “only yes is yes” law to “close the door to unwanted effects”. of it and for which they hope to have the support of their coalition partners from United We Can.
Alegría made it clear that in no case will the “heart” of the law be touched, the consent of the woman. From Podemos they have rejected any change that involves returning to the previous legislative model, something that she appreciates in the Justice proposal in the face of “pressure” from the PP and conservative sectors.
Given the latest movements, Llop has decided that he will finally not attend the summit between Spain and Morocco that starts this Wednesday in Rabat to stay working on the reform of the ‘law of only yes is yes’.
As of February 1, sentence reviews and sentence reductions are confirmed in 17 autonomous communities. According to the data collected so far by Europa Press, there are 64 in Andalusia, 47 in the Basque Country, 46 in the Valencian Community, 42 in Madrid, 33 in Galicia, 21 in Castilla y León, 28 in the Balearic Islands, 20 in Castilla-La Mancha, 16 in Asturias, 14 in the Canary Islands, 11 in Catalonia, 9 in the Supreme Court, 8 in Extremadura, 7 in Cantabria, 2 in Murcia, 2 in La Rioja, 2 in Aragon and 2 in Navarra.
Of these 374 cases, 24 have led to the release of convicts: 6 from Madrid, 3 from the Basque Country -1 by order of the Supreme Court–, 2 from the Balearic Islands, 2 from Galicia, 2 from the Valencian Community, 2 from Cantabria, 2 from in Asturias, 1 in Extremadura, 1 in Castilla y León, 1 in the Canary Islands, 1 in Andalusia 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.
In the 374 modifications agreed to so far, the magistrates explain that these downward revisions are made because the Criminal 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 9 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.
