Seven policemen sentenced for detaining and torturing a Romani family in Madrid

15 July 1999

El País reported on February 22 that seven policemen had been sentenced by the Seventh Council of the Madrid Courts for the illegal detention and torture of a Romani family on New Year's Eve in 1990.

According to El País, the police arrested the Yobano family of six following reports of an incident between some cleaners and some musicians. There were four minors among the persons detained. The police took the family to the police station in Luna street, in the central district of Madrid, where they were detained.

According to El País, one of the police officers, Mr P.A., thought that the Roma had stolen a watch while they were being arrested. With his colleague, Mr F.V., he went down to the cells to punish the Roma. In one cell were the father of the family and three of his children, aged between 11 and 15. The officers forced the father into the corner of the cell and demanded that he return the watch. They forced him to undress completely, held a pistol to his head and repeatedly mistreated him. According to the judgement, the man was so frightened that he defecated. The policemen then forced him to clear up his faeces with his bare hands. Then the policemen took the three children out of the cell, forced them to undress and threatened them. They repeatedly mistreated the 15-year-old. He suffered injuries to his leg and side which took ten days to heal.
The court established that the detention of the family was discriminatory, as the police had not seen the incident leading to the arrest, had been given no precise description of the offenders, carried out no inquiry and had no legal motivation for the arrest, and all members of the family were Romani. The principal defendants, Officers P.A. and F.V., were found guilty of the crimes of illegal detention, torture and mistreatment. For the crime of illegal detention, the two officers were each sentenced to one year's suspension from duty and a fine of 200,000 pesetas (approximately 1200 euros) for each person illegally detained. For the crime of torture, P.A. and F.V. were each sentenced to four months imprisonment and seven years prohibition of service. They were additionally sentenced for mistreatment to thirty days imprisonment and had to pay victims a total of 150,000 pesetas (approximately 900 euros) for injuries and 2,000,000 pesetas (approximately 12,000 euros) in moral damages. The court established that the State would pay the damages if the offenders failed to pay.

A third policeman was sentenced to two months imprisonment for the crime of mistreatment. His crime consisted of seeing his colleagues torture the Roma without attempting to stop them. A further three police officers were suspended from service for six years, one year for each person illegally detained. Moreover, they were required to pay 200,000 Spanish pesetas (approximately 1200 euros) in compensation to each member of the detained family. Finally, the responsible officer for that evening, Mr A.H., was sentenced to a prohibition of service for seven years; the court found that he had committed the crime of breach of duty when he ordered that the family be released and attempted to cover up the incident. The case has been appealed at the High Court.

(El País)