MADRID (Reuters) - A Spanish court condemned on Thursday five men accused of the group rape of an 18-year-old woman at the 2016 San Fermin bull running festival in 2016 to nine years in prison each for the lesser crime of sexual abuse.

The case had sparked widespread anger around Spain given increased reports of incidents of sex attacks at the festival, which brings over a million people to the northern Spanish city of Pamplona for the nine-day-long festival. </s> A Spanish court condemned on Thursday five men accused of the group rape of an 18-year-old woman at the 2016 San Fermin bull running festival in 2016 to nine years in prison each for the lesser crime of sexual abuse.

MADRID: A Spanish court on Thursday cleared five men of the gang rape of an 18-year-old woman at the 2016 San Fermin bull-running festival in Pamplona, convicting them of the lesser crime of sexual abuse.

The decision drew immediate criticism and outrage. Protesters gathered outside the court building chanted: "It's not abuse, it's rape", and shook their fists at the building.

The so-called "Wolf Pack" case had already sparked widespread anger around Spain following concern over increased reports of sex attacks at the annual festival and over the mistreatment of women in general.

It has also drawn international attention, coming at a time of heightened global concern over the sexual abuse of women in the wake of the Harvey Weinstein scandal.

After a five-month trial held behind closed doors to protect the victim's identity, a judge read out the sentences in the court in the northern region of Navarra.

The state prosecutor had asked for prison sentences of more than 20 years for each of the men. Instead they were given nine-year sentences.

Under Spanish law, the lesser charge of sexual abuse differs from rape in that it does not involve violence or intimidation.

The charge is used in cases of sexual activity between underage partners and those seen not capable of giving permission for sexual contact, such as those who are severely handicapped or under the influence of drugs or drink.

Feminist groups scheduled protests for Thursday evening in Spanish cities around the country, including outside the Justice Ministry in Madrid, in reaction to the sentence.

"If five people surrounding a girl is not aggression, the question has to be what is wrong with our criminal code?" former Secretary of State for Equality Soledad Murillo said in comments published in El Pais newspaper.

National Police also showed their support for the victim, saying in a Tweet: "No is no - we are with you".

The regional government of Navarra, where the San Fermin festival takes place, will appeal the ruling, Spanish press quoted a regional government spokeswoman as saying. No one at the regional government could immediately be reached for comment.

The five men, including a former policeman and a former soldier, and the victim were not present in court. The men, dubbed by Spanish media "The Wolf Pack" after the name of their WhatsApp group, have been held in custody since July 2016.

The judge, who did not give the reasoning behind the sentence, also ordered the men to pay the victim 50,000 euros (£43,517.19) in compensation. The ruling can be appealed in Spain's Supreme Court.

The incident took place in the lobby of a building in the early hours of the morning at the San Fermin festival, which brings more than one million people to Pamplona for the nine-day-long festival in July.

The woman was found crying by two people who rang the police when she said she had been sexually assaulted. She made a statement to the police, describing the five men who were later arrested.

Fragments of video from the men's mobile phones taken at the scene were used as evidence in the trial, alongside witness accounts and biological tests. The defence team argued the incident was a case of consensual group sex.

The Running of the Bulls involves hundreds of people dressed in white shirts and red neckerchiefs running down narrow streets in front of fighting bulls before ending in the city's bull-ring, where bullfights take place in the afternoon.

The festival is just as famous for the drinking and revelry on the sidelines, with huge street parties, processions and firework displays. The event draws thousands of tourists from all over the world.

Thousands of people took to the streets two years ago to protest against sexual assault at the festival and the Pamplona council has mounted a campaign against sexual harassment in recent years, increasing policing and encouraging women to report attacks. </s> A Spanish court condemned on Thursday five men accused of the group rape of an 18-year-old woman at the 2016 San Fermin bull running festival in 2016 to nine years in prison each for the lesser crime of sexual abuse.

MADRID: A Spanish court on Thursday cleared five men of the gang rape of an 18-year-old woman at the 2016 San Fermin bull-running festival in Pamplona, convicting them of the lesser crime of sexual abuse.

The case had sparked widespread anger around Spain following

concern over increased reports of sex attacks at the annual festival and over the mistreatment of women in general.

The case has also drawn international attention, coming at a time of heightened global concern over the sexual abuse of women in the wake of the Harvey Weinstein scandal.

Following the ruling, protesters gathered outside the court chanting: "It's not abuse, it's rape" and shook their fists at the building.

The state prosecutor had asked for prison sentences of more than 20 years for each of the men. Instead they were given nine-year sentences.

After a five-month trial held behind closed doors to protect the victim's identity, a judge read out the sentences in a televised address from the court in the northern region of Navarra.

Under Spanish law, the lesser charge of sexual abuse differs from rape in that it does not involve violence or intimidation.

The five men, including a former policeman and a former soldier, and the victim, who is from Madrid, were not present in court. They have been held in custody since July 2016.

The judge, who did not give the reasoning behind the sentence, also ordered the men to pay the victim 50,000 euros (£43,579) in compensation. The ruling can be appealed in Spain's Supreme Court.

The incident took place at the San Fermin festival, which brings more than million people to Pamplona for the nine-day-long festival in July.

The Running of the Bulls involves hundreds of people dressed in white shirts and red neckerchiefs running down narrow streets in front of fighting bulls before ending in the city's bull-ring, where bullfights take place in the afternoon.

However, the festival is just as famous for the drinking and revelry that takes place on the sidelines with huge street parties, processions and firework displays. The event draws thousands of tourists from all over the world.

Thousands of people took to the streets two years ago to protest against sexual assault at the festival and the Pamplona council has mounted a campaign against sexual harassment in recent years, increasing policing and encouraging women to report attacks.

Feminist groups scheduled protests for Thursday evening in Spanish cities around the country, including outside the Justice Ministry in Madrid, in reaction to the sentence. </s> Five men cleared of gang rape at Spain's bull-running festival

Updated

Thousands of protesters have taken to the streets across Spain after a court cleared five men of the gang rape of a teenager at the 2016 San Fermin bull-running festival in Pamplona.

Key points: Five men given nine-year sentences for sexual abuse

Politicians condemn the ruling

The annual festival draws thousands of tourists from all over the world

The court in the northern region of Navarra convicted the men, who had recorded video of the attack on their mobile phones and laughed about the incident afterwards on a WhatsApp group, with the lesser crime of sexual abuse.

The state prosecutor had asked for prison sentences of more than 20 years for each of the men. Instead they were given nine-year sentences.

The incident took place in the lobby of a building in the early hours of the morning at the San Fermin festival, which brings more than 1 million people to Pamplona for the nine-day festival in July.

One of the men stole the woman's mobile phone following the attack, leaving her with no means of contacting the friend with whom she had come to the festival.

She was found crying on a bench by a couple who rang the police when she said she had been sexually assaulted. She made a statement to the police, describing the five men who were later arrested.

Fragments of video from the men's mobile phones taken at the scene were used as evidence in the trial, alongside witness accounts and biological tests. The defence team argued the incident was a case of consensual group sex.

Under Spanish law, the lesser charge of sexual abuse differs from rape in that it does not involve violence or intimidation.

The charge is used in cases of sexual activity between underage partners or those seen not capable of giving permission for sexual contact, such as those who are severely handicapped or under the influence of drugs or drink.

The decision drew immediate criticism and outrage. Thousands gathered in cities across Spain — from Seville to Barcelona and outside the Justice Ministry in Madrid — bearing notices reading "I believe you, sister" and chanting, "It's not abuse, it's rape".

In Madrid, men and women packed central streets chanting, "Shame. Shame" and, "No means no".

Politicians across the spectrum condemned the ruling.

"As a citizen and as a father, I find it hard to understand this sentence," Albert Rivera, head of market-friendly political party Ciudadanos, tweeted.

"It seems to be saying to victims that if you don't take on five thugs double your size, putting your life at risk, it's not rape," Pablo Iglesias, leader of left-wing Podemos, said.

The case had already sparked widespread anger around Spain following concern over increased reports of sex attacks at the annual festival and over the mistreatment of women in general.

It has also drawn international attention, coming at a time of heightened global concern over the sexual abuse of women in the wake of the Harvey Weinstein scandal.

Regional Government will appeal against ruling

The five-month trial was held behind closed doors to protect the victim's identity.

The five men, including a former policeman and a former soldier, and the victim, who was 18 at the time of the incident, were not present in court.

The men, dubbed by Spanish media The Wolf Pack after the name of their WhatsApp group, have been held in custody since July 2016.

The judge, who did not give the reasoning behind the sentence, also ordered the men to pay the victim 50,000 euros ($80,112) in compensation. The ruling can be appealed in Spain's Supreme Court.

Navarra's regional Government, where the San Fermin festival takes place, will appeal against the ruling, a government spokeswoman said.

The Running of the Bulls involves hundreds of people dressed in white shirts and red neckerchiefs running down narrow streets in front of fighting bulls before ending in the city's bull-ring, where bullfights take place in the afternoon.

The festival is just as famous for the drinking and revelry on the sidelines, with huge street parties, processions and firework displays. The event draws thousands of tourists from all over the world.

Reuters

Topics: law-crime-and-justice, courts-and-trials, sexual-offences, spain

First posted </s> Protests have swept through the cities of Spain as five men accused of gang rape of a teenager during the 2016 Pamplona bulls festival were found guilty of the lesser offense of sexual abuse.

People, holding placards, shouted slogans "This justice is bullsh*t," "It's not abuse, it's rape!" gathering outside the justice ministry in Madrid, the Plaça Sant Jaume in Barcelona and in a number of other cities.

​The verdict on the case was delivered at a court in Pamplona, the capital of the Navarre region in northern Spain. The five defendants were sentenced to nine years in prison and ordered to pay €10,000 each to the young woman, who was 18 years old at the time of the attack.

The judges characterized the attack as "continuous sexual abuse," but not rape. According to Spanish law, the lesser offense of sexual abuse does not involve violence or intimidation, which differs it from rape. </s> Spain could change its criminal law after five men accused of gang raping a teenager at the Pamplona bull run were jailed for sexual abuse.

Thousands of people staged a second day of protests across the country, including in Barcelona and Madrid, after the five men were sentenced on Thursday to nine years in jail for the lesser offence.

Demonstrators gathered outside the Pamplona court which handed down the verdict, shouting "it's not sexual abuse, it's rape".

They also held banners reading "palace of injustice".

The Spanish government announced on Friday that it would consider reforming the law in response.

Activists described the attack on an 18-year-old woman during the 2016 running of the bulls festival as a gang rape.

The men, aged 27 to 29, were accused of attacking the woman at the entrance to an apartment building at the start of the week-long San Fermin festival, which draws tens of thousands of visitors.

Leaving her half naked, the group, which included a Guardia Civil policeman and a former solidier, then stole her mobile phone.

The five, all from Seville, also filmed the incident with their phones and then bragged about it on a WhatsApp group where they referred to themselves as "La Manada" - the pack.

Judges acquitted them of sexual assault, which includes rape, after ruling there was no "violence or intimidation" in the case.

The judges also ruled the victim had not consented, but neither had she expressed any opposition.

Several left-wing politicians questioned the verdict, and the regional government of Navarre province said it would launch an appeal because it "shares the discontent of the citizens".

The prosecutors office said it will also challenge the judgement, after prosecutors argued during the trial last autumn there was "serious intimidation and it prevented resistance or flight".

Lawyers had called for each of the men, several who are "ultras" who support FC Sevilla, to be jailed for 22 years and 10 months.

The group has been kept in pre-trial custody since they were arrested and were also ordered to pay the victim €50,000 (£43,923) in compensation.

Their lawyers argued the victim agreed to the sexual encounter and only admitted the gang had stolen her mobile phone.

Lawyers for four of the men said they would appeal, as did the woman's lawyer.

Further demonstrations are planned in Pamplona for Saturday, the Pamplona Woman's Movement said. </s> Protests have erupted across Spain after five men were jailed for nine years each for sexual abuse in what activists saw as a gang rape during the 2016 running of the bulls festival in Pamplona.

Protests have erupted across Spain after five men were jailed for nine years each for sexual abuse in what activists saw as a gang rape during the 2016 running of the bulls festival in Pamplona.

Protests held across Spain after five men cleared for Pamplona gang rape

Police stopped the crowd from advancing toward the entrance to the court, with some angry demonstrators shoving officers. Thousands of protesters gathered hours later in central Pamplona and most of Spain's major cities, including Madrid, Barcelona, Sevilla, Bilbao, Valencia and Zaragoza.

Demonstrators shouted slogans like "No is no!" while some waved homemade signs and wore red gloves as a symbol of protest. The five members of La Manada - or The Pack, after the nickname the group gave themselves - were found guilty of sexual abuse, which does not involve violence or intimidation under Spain's criminal code.

The prosecution had argued that violence was used and the 18-year-old victim did not consent to intercourse. The court on Thursday chose the lesser sexual abuse charge in contrast to the more severe charge prosecutors sought along with harsher sentences of more than 22 years in prison.

The court agreed there was no consent because the defendants were in a position of "superiority that curtailed the victim's freedom". One of the three judges in the panel voted in favour of acquitting the defendants, the court said.

According to testimony at the trial, the men offered to accompany the victim to her car but instead hauled her into a building where they filmed their assault with their smartphones. They then took her mobile phone and left. The men argued that the young woman had consented to intercourse.

To support the claim, their lawyers produced detectives' reports on the victim's behaviour after the incident, causing outrage among women's rights groups who said the victim was being judged for her behaviour rather than the attackers. The defence then withdrew the report. In addition to the prison time, the court ruled they should jointly compensate the victim with €50,000 and refrain from contacting her for 15 years.

The five have been in pre-trial custody since they were arrested after the incident. The president of Spain's Feminist Party, Lidia Falcon, told La Sexta television that the ruling means rape in Spain is "practically free" of punishment. Spanish Deputy Prime Minister Soraya Saenz de Santamaria said the government "had to respect" the controversial ruling, while adding that authorities must respond to the public uproar.

"I think we have to analyse what we as public authorities must do so that incidents like this don't happen again in our country," she said. Justice Minister Raphael Catala said that the laws in question date from 1995 and should be reviewed to see if "it is convenient to push for their revision". </s> MADRID — A Spanish court has sentenced five Spanish men to nine years each in prison for a gang rape during the 2016 running of the bulls festival in Pamplona, a case that drew controversy for the way the victim was treated during the trial.

The five members of “La Manada” — or “The Pack,” the nickname they gave themselves — argued during last year’s proceedings that the young woman consented. To support their argument, the defence produced a detective’s report on her behaviour after the July 2016 rape.

The court announced Thursday it found the men guilty of sex abuse but not sexual aggression, in which violence must be seen. They must also jointly compensate her 50,000 euros ($61,000) and refrain from contacting her for 15 years.

The verdict can be appealed. </s> Gang rape or sex abuse? Spain eyes changes to its rape laws

MADRID (AP) — The Spanish government is considering whether changes to the law are needed after a court rejected charges of gang rape against five men and convicted them instead on a lesser charge of sexual abuse, an official said Friday.

Street protests erupted across Spain on Thursday after a court in the northern city of Pamplona sentenced the five men to nine years each in prison for sexual abuse. Activists described the attack during the 2016 running of the bulls festival in Pamplona as a gang rape.

Government spokesman Inigo Mendez de Vigo said Friday that the Spanish government respects the independence of courts but added that it "has always been, is and will always be on the side of the victims." He called the attack "despicable."

Justice Minister Rafael Catala has begun consultations with legal experts to assess whether changes to Spain's rape laws are required, Mendez de Vigo said.

Also Friday, a top prosecutor in northern Spain said he will appeal the five men's convictions.

Jose Sanchez, the top prosecutor in Navarra province, said the attackers —who took pride in their actions on a WhatsApp group named "La Manada" or "The (animal) Pack"— should be punished for "sexual assault (rape) and not only for sexual abuse."

The verdict by two judges in Navarra and a third's dissenting vote to acquit the attackers has brought widespread anger and social debate in Spain. Many people are calling for legal reform and criticizing what they perceive as machismo in the judiciary.

The Spanish criminal code says evidence of violence or intimidation must exist for the more severe offense to be proved.

Any changes to the law require approval by a majority of lawmakers in parliament. </s> Protests are being held across Spain after five men accused of the gang rape of a teenager during the running of the bulls festival in Pamplona were found guilty of the lesser offence of sexual abuse.

The attack two years ago prompted a national outcry, as did the subsequent trial, which was widely criticised as a cross-examination of the 18-year-old woman rather than the men who attacked her.

The verdicts were delivered at a court in Pamplona, the capital of the Navarre region of northern Spain. José Ángel Prenda, Alfonso Cabezuelo, Antonio Manuel Guerrero, Jesús Escudero and Ángel Boza were sentenced to nine years’ imprisonment, five years’ probation and ordered to pay €10,000 each to the woman. Guerrero, a Guardia Civil police officer, was also fined €900 for stealing her phone after the attack.

Protesters in Pamplona shouted “This justice is bullshit!”, “It’s not abuse, it’s rape!” and “If they touch one of us, they touch all of us!” after the verdict was read out. On Thursday evening thousands more demonstrators gathered outside the justice ministry in Madrid, the Plaça Sant Jaume in Barcelona and in cities across the country.

The men were found guilty of the “continuous sexual abuse” of the woman in the lobby of a building in the early hours of 7 July 2016, but not of rape.



Under Spanish law, the lesser offence of sexual abuse differs from rape in that it does not involve violence or intimidation. One of the judges argued that the men should have been cleared of all charges except the phone theft.

The men, who called themselves la manada or “the wolf pack” in their WhatsApp group, had offered to walk the woman to her car but instead took her into the hall of a building, attacked her and filmed the assault on their phones.

The victim was later found crying on a bench. She described her attackers to police, who arrested the five men the following day.



Their defence lawyers claimed the woman had consented and had let one of the men kiss her. They also argued that 96 seconds of video footage from the men’s phones – showing the woman immobile and with her eyes shut during the attack – was proof of consent.

The prosecution, however, said the victim had been too terrified to move.

“The defendants want us to believe that on that night they met an 18-year-old girl, living a normal life, who, after 20 minutes of conversation with people she didn’t know, agreed to group sex involving every type of penetration, sometimes simultaneously, without using a condom,” the prosecutor Elena Sarasate said.

If the sex was consensual why had they taken her phone, Sarasate asked. “The obvious thing would be to exchange phone numbers, not steal her phone.”



The proceedings were also criticised after the judges accepted into evidence a report compiled by a private detective hired by some of the defendants. The detective had followed the woman over several days and produced photographs of her smiling with friends.



'It's really ugly': anger and anxiety over sexual violence at the Pamplona bull run Read more

This was presented as evidence that she had not suffered any lasting trauma, prompting hundreds of women to demonstrate outside court holding signs reading: “We believe you, sister.”

Thursday’s verdict came after five months of deliberation by judges. Prosecutors had sought jail terms of 22 years each.



The woman’s lawyer said she was disappointed with the sentence and would appeal against it. A spokeswoman for the Navarre regional government said it did not agree with the verdict and would also appeal.

A lawyer for four of the men said they planned to appeal against their sentences, saying the court “can’t just come up with the offence of sexual abuse when it never formed the basis of the accusation and wasn’t something the defence could prepare for”.

The verdicts were quickly and fiercely criticised by many senior politicians and human rights groups.

Susana Díaz, the president of the regional government of Andalusia, tweeted: “I always respect judicial sentences but this is one I neither understand nor agree with. We must have zero tolerance for sexual violence throughout society.”

Her colleague, Pedro Sánchez, the leader of Spain’s socialist party, wrote: “She said NO. We believe you and we’ll keep believing you. If what the ‘wolfpack’ did wasn’t group violence against a defenceless woman, then what do we understand by rape?”

As demonstrations were announced across Spain, Amnesty International said: “The lack of legal recognition that sexual relations without consent constitute rape gives rise to the idea that it’s down to us as women to protect ourselves from rape.

Meanwhile the international human rights group Women’s Link said the case had offered judges a “unique opportunity” to set a precedent that would help protect victims of sexual assaults. But “the court didn’t take it. Once again. Once again, what a disappointment.”

Spain’s deputy prime minister, Soraya Sáenz de Santamaría, said while the judge’s sentences ought to be respected, the authorities now needed to analyse what had happened “to avoid such behaviour happening again in this country”.

In a tweet posted shortly after the verdicts were read out, Spain’s national police force wrote “No means no” 12 times, along with their emergency phone number and the message: “We’re with you.”
A court in Pamplona, Spain convicts a group of five men on charges of sexual abuse at the festival of San Fermín in 2016, clearing them of charges of gang rape.