Friday, March 29

Jupol is outraged that a judge prosecutes three of its members for homicide: “We are workers, not murderers”


The security guard of the metal detector at the door of the courts of Plaza de Castilla in Madrid outlined a smile this midday. “There are usually protests, but with this mess, no,” he said, while the noise of the loudspeaker, the tambourine and the whistles of the nearly 200 militants of the Jupol police union, who were protesting because the court of investigation number 1 has dared to propose that the three national police officers who shot a man to death on November 26, 2021 in Vallecas be prosecuted for homicide. The preliminary hearing, scheduled for today, has finally been suspended until January 13 because there were parts of the case that still did not have all the documentation, according to the lawyer for the defendants.

The judge proposes trying for homicide the three policemen who shot a young man to death in his house in Vallecas

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A jury must decide, if this procedure is successful, on the guilt of the agents, who responded to the call from Kebyn Peralta’s mother due to his altered and violent behavior. The police version is that the 20-year-old man received them with a knife in hand, in a state of violent agitation, trying to stab them repeatedly with the intention of killing them. They responded with 18 shots, of which six hit.

Doubting the police version and letting the jury decide is inadmissible for Jupol, who appeared before the courthouse with three crucified mannequins dressed in uniform. “The crosses symbolize the way in which we are placed in the eye of the hurricane instead of those who disturb the peace,” said Aarón Rivero, general secretary of the union, which usually promotes markedly right-wing demonstrations against the government.

“The administration abandons us and questions us”, reproached the banner of the concentration, abounding in the message that questioning police actions is wrong by system. Among those gathered there were members of Jupol from Madrid and from other provinces, such as Seville, Cádiz, Valladolid or Huesca. They barely chanted slogans, because the noise from the loudspeaker, installed in a baby carriage in which there was a Tweety bird doll, constantly repeated “we are workers, not murderers”, and would have drowned out the voices.

The lawyer for the agents, Marco Antonio Navarro, defended that his defendants deserve, on the contrary, an award, and that the exemptions of legitimate defense and performance in the exercise of duty should be applied to them. He acknowledged that he could request it and argue it during the plenary, but he considers that sitting on the bench is already excessive punishment. “If they are sentenced for using the regulation weapon in such a specific case with absolute danger to their lives, they cannot carry weapons,” he said. The instruction collected that the knife brandished by the deceased had no fingerprints.

Rivero noted that the police firing plan, which details when to pull the trigger, dates from 1986, when “we didn’t have knife fights every weekend,” and that it would need to be updated. He also believes that a protocol for the use of force and a psychological assistance service for agents must be approved.

Although the reason for the concentration was very specific, one of the attendees took over the microphone and began to charge against the Minister of the Interior, Fernando Grande-Marlaska. “This is a just cause, and not that of the rapists and embezzlers,” he charged. An elderly man, wearing a hat and earmuffs, approached just as he was starting to riot to ask what was going on. Before they finished explaining it to him, he interrupted: “Wow! With the good work they do!” He then thanked him and left.



www.eldiario.es