Between 2010 and 2019, the vast majority of the 60 convictions imposed by final judgment mainly affected rank-and-file agents: a total of 52 Civil Guards; only five were applied to NCOs, and three to officers. Thus, an average of 6 officers each year are sentenced to prison terms for these kinds of situations [i.e., insulting a superior].
According to data from the General Directorate of the Civil Guard, which EL ESPAÑOL has been able to access, in almost half of the cases (28 out of 60), the "crime" committed and convicted with these penalties was that of "insult to a superior." 2014 was the year with the most convictions, with a total of 11. Between 2018 and 2019, nine prison sentences were ratified for as many officers.
The main reason for these sentences, in the opinion of the AUGC [Unified Association of Civil Guards], perfectly shows how the Military Penal Code is used within the Benemérita. "They are no longer simple assumptions, but official data." For them, this would demonstrate the "abusive use" that is made from the institution. "It is disproportionate and is clearly intended to intimidate workers, who, as is well known, can end up behind bars for a simple disagreement."
For this reason, their great battle is to get the suppression of article 1 point 5, by which the Military Penal Code applies to members of the Civil Guard and applicants to the body in everything related to military crimes. That it only applies in very exceptional situations, such as during a state of siege, or when they are integrated into activities of the Armed Forces.
This does not seem to be a sustainable state of affairs. The AUGC is likely to continue to press the issue, and one must assume it will wind up at the European Court of Human Rights.
No comments:
Post a Comment
Comments are subject to moderation and must be submitted under your real name. Anonymous comments will not be posted (even though the form seems to permit them).