The Court of Granada suspends the prison sentence imposed on Juana Rivas

With this resolution, the case of Juana Rivas takes another turn and places the Granada woman in a more favorable position with a view to her judicial future, which still continues, although in this case the court has agreed with her in the decision of the magistrate Manuel Piñar who was opposed to the woman being free, considering that she could represent a danger to her children. Juana’s defense considers “it is very positive that the unjust decision of Judge Piñar, who has always treated Juana Rivas with an absolute lack of impartiality, is rectified.” Even the Prosecutor’s Office asked for Rivas’s freedom and appealed the order of Judge Piñar who denied it.

In any case, according to the letter from the Court of Granada to which elDiario.es Andalucía has had access, the appeal filed by Juana Rivas’s lawyers has been partially upheld, which implies that the woman from Granada is not completely released from her judicial responsibilities . Specifically, the resolution estimates a period of three years for the suspension of the sentence, during which time the woman will not be able to commit any crime if she does not want to lose her freedom again. In addition, the court requires Rivas to participate in positive parenting programs.

According to Granada’s defense, Juana Rivas is “very happy” with the news since “she can also see her children in Italy whenever she wants.” As her custodial sentence is suspended, the woman will have “no limitation” to be able to travel to Italy or any other place, according to the version of her lawyers. So Judge Piñar’s decision to reject her release is annulled for the time being.

six months in jail

Juana Rivas entered the Matilde Cantos Social Insertion Center (CIS) in Granada on June 11, 2021 to serve a prison sentence of two and a half years in prison. The woman was admitted to this place because inmates who do not have a criminal record and whose procedural situation is more favorable for them, to the point where inmates usually have a semi-liberty regime, end up here. In fact, the lawyers of Juana’s ex-partner, Francesco Arcuri, supported this decision by understanding that she Rivas did not have to enter a prison like Albolote’s, much harder as it had all kinds of criminals.

He was there until in November the Government granted him a pardon by which that sentence of two and a half years in prison was reduced by half, so that since he had no criminal record, he could leave prison with a sentence of less than two years in prison. However, just a few days after the pardon, Judge Piñar opposed her release, considering that the woman from Granada had not shown remorse for her actions, that she would commit a crime again if necessary, and that she was a danger to society. children of her

A ruling that was controversial and that has been annulled with this resolution of the Granada Court, not without Rivas’s defense denouncing the judicial delay that harmed Juana’s interests since the appeal was filed in December and has not been resolved until now. Despite this, the Treatment Board reviewed the procedural situation of the Granada woman last winter, which allowed her to be on probation since Christmas, spending a total of six months as an intern at the CIS.

Juana Rivas, who fled with her children for a year between 2016 and 2017 alleging that she was fleeing abuse and that she was doing so to protect minors, was convicted of not handing them over to her father despite the fact that there were two legal claims that forced her to do so . As a result of her disobedience, she was sentenced in the first instance to five years in prison and six years of loss of parental authority. Later, the Supreme Court reduced said sentence by half, while Juana Rivas herself and her lawyers filed complaints in Italy for alleged mistreatment of her children by the father that have not been accredited since all have been archived .

The problem of parental authority

However, Francesco Arcuri has not opposed at any time that the Granada could access a third degree regimen that leaves her in a situation of supervised freedom. In fact, having been sentenced to 1 year and 3 months in prison for pardon, she should have accessed the aforementioned third degree this spring. “Her only will is for her parental authority to be suspended,” sources from Arcuri’s defense argue to elDiario.es Andalucía. The same ones that filed an appeal in February before the Supreme Court against the Government’s partial pardon for which Juana Rivas’ sentence of two and a half years in prison was reduced by half so that she could go free as she had no criminal record and be sentenced to less than two years in prison.

As said pardon also returns parental authority to Juana Rivas in exchange for the Granada woman doing 180 days of community work and not committing the same crime of child abduction in the next four years, Arcuri’s lawyers maintain the appeal against him. They understand that this decision does not correspond to the Executive, but is the responsibility of the judges and the courts. “Trying to rehabilitate parental authority by way of pardon not only contravenes the precepts mentioned above, but also violates the law regulating pardon itself, by appropriating the Executive of a power that it does not have, in accordance with art. 170 CC”, affirms Arcuri’s defense in the appeal before the Supreme Court.

Thus, for the moment, the children continue with their father in Italy as he has custody of them in that country. However, the Italian justice has to rule in the coming weeks on this matter after the decision has been delayed in time due to the indisposition of health of one of the magistrates. What is certain is that, unless the lawyers of Juana Rivas’ ex-partner present another appeal against the decision of the Provincial Court of Granada to release her, the woman will be able to travel to Italian lands whenever she wants to see her children. her.