Manuel Herrera Perejon , the ultra of Real Betis accused of a hate crime for the attack on a man in Bilbao, affirms in his defense brief that the facts ” do not constitute any crime ” and that “his acquittal is warranted”.
Due to the attack that occurred on April 27, 2017 in the Old Town of Bilbao, hours before a match between Athletic and Betis, the Prosecutor’s Office asks Herrera Perejon for 18 months in prison for a hate crimeaccording to the new typification of the Penal Code. In journalistic statements, the Betico fan assured that hours before they had insulted and spat on him and that the attacked was in a group of about 15 punks who had rebuked him saying “I am Gabilondo and you, Spaniards, you have to leave here” .
Once qualified by the Prosecutor’s Office and the defense, the case has reached the criminal court 2 of Bilbao, which will hold the trial in the coming months.
Herrera Perejon resigned from his Sevillian paid lawyer and now has a court-appointed lawyer in Bilbao. His qualification brief, to which this newspaper has had access, is limited to one page where he expresses his disagreement with the account of the facts made by the prosecutor, affirms that “the facts do not constitute any crime”, “there is no author responsible” and that “it is appropriate to declare free acquittal.”
In the case, a second Betico fan will be tried, accused of recording the video that became viral on social networks , who bases his defense on the fact that he was not the one who uploaded the images to his Facebook and Instagram accounts.
His lawyer, for this reason, asks that the technological investigation brigade of the Bilbao Police be released to determine the affiliation of the two people who uploaded the recording to Twitter and to a humor and sports website.
The attack occurred around 12:45 p.m. on April 27, 2017 in Bilbao’s Casco Viejo, hours before a match between Athletic and Betis. Herrera Perejon “surprisingly” approached the victim, who “was sitting quietly on the terrace of a cafeteria having a drink.”
The accused, ” moved by the desire to injure the dignity of said person “, addressed him shouting “You, Gabilondo, listen to me”, “Arriba Espana” “Are you a proetarra
“After which he threw the contents of a glass of liquid at him and hit him hard in the face with his open hand,” according to the opening order.
Before setting a date for the hearing, the criminal judge 2 of Bilbao must rule on various aspects, especially the orders to conceal the identity of the two protected witnesses in the case and the precautionary measures for the main defendant.
Herrera Perejon is on provisional release, with the obligation to appear in court on the 1st and 15th of each month. The judge also prohibited him from participating in social networks and other open sources “in order to prevent the dissemination of messages of incitement to hatred.”
On July 12 and 31, as well as on August 14, he appeared in the Peace Court of Benacazon.
This defendant is declared solvent to face the amount of 3,600 euros that was imposed as bail and a Toyota brand vehicle was seized.
Sources of the case indicate to this newspaper that the defendants have no obligation to attend the hearing , as they face a sentence of less than two years in prison. The hate crime is recently typified and has no jurisprudence from the Supreme Court. On the other hand, it was used in the recent trial for the assault on some civil guards in Alsasua (Navarra) and is being applied in Catalonia in the different incidents with the yellow ties.
In the trial, the Ertzaina agents who investigated the events and described them as a hate crime will testify, in addition to the third member of the Betis ultra group that accompanied them and whose laughter can be heard on the recording.
The victim is protected by the Witness Protection Law because, in addition to the injuries, the events and the dissemination of the images on social networks caused him “great concern in his personal life and he had to modify his daily routines, frightened by the consequences of the aggression suffered,” according to the Prosecutor’s Office. The Public Ministry requests that he be compensated at 3,600 euros .
The application of this new hate crime allows the prosecutor to place his sentence request for each defendant in 18 months in prisonand a fine of twelve months, which is equivalent to 3,600 euros , since otherwise he would only accuse the material author of a minor crime of mistreatment. For this slight mistreatment, Herrera Perejon claims a two-month fine with a daily fee of 10 euros (equivalent to 600 euros).
The request of the Prosecutor’s Office adds for both the prohibition to live and go to the Basque Country for two years.
