The head of the Civil Guard defends the Santa Maria arrests: "There was no disproportion"

PalmaThe head of the Civil Guard of the Balearic Islands, Alejandro Hernández, has defended the investigation that ended with the arrests of the two young activists who painted graffiti on five real estate agencies in Santa Maria.

The recently appointed chief considered that there was "no type of disproportion" and that the act of handcuffing the detainees during the transfer was "appropriate". Asked this Tuesday by the press during a press conference, Herández praised the work of the agents from the Pont d'Inca barracks who carried out the investigation and who resolved the case "in a reasonable time".

"They were something more than graffiti, they broke windows with a hammer and damaged locks with glue. There is aggravated damage in these actions," he said during the presentation of new agents assigned to the Balearic Islands. Despite the social outcry raised by the case, the head of the Civil Guard denied that his subordinates engage in "persecuting activists" or entering "into political debate". "We conduct police investigations into reports of criminal offenses, we do nothing else. The controversy, for the Civil Guard, does not really affect us," he emphasized.

He committed to his agents continuing to investigate "all criminal offenses" of which they are aware and acting in accordance with "the results they entail". "We are not responsible, the perpetrators of the criminal offenses are responsible," he insisted. The action, he defended, was "absolutely" proportionate to the offenses committed and the activists were brought before the judicial authorities a few hours after their arrest, which is why "in no case were they in the cells".

Hernández has not seen "any" exceptionality either in an investigation whose controversy he has linked to it being more "newsworthy" than on other occasions where "there is no basis for a positional disagreement between political or societal groups". "In this case, I do not see any disproportion, I consider it adequate. What was done, simply, was to carry out a search to seize those items that had been used during the acts of vandalism and to secure this evidence by going to the home of the two detainees," he pointed out.

Regarding the accusation of belonging to a criminal organization, another of the issues that has generated controversy, the head of the Civil Guard has argued that they have done nothing more than comply with the Penal Code, which defines this crime as one committed by "more than two concerted persons". "It fits perfectly," he concluded.

Neo-Nazi graffiti

Hernández has confirmed that the Civil Guard has taken over the investigation into the neo-Nazi graffiti that appeared on two houses linked to the families of the arrested activists.

The young women's circle filed a complaint with the Santa Maria Local Police, which has been transferred to the Civil Guard Command in the Balearic Islands. Now, said the brigadier general, they will carry out the necessary investigations to try to clarify the facts and identify those responsible. "I don't know where the investigation will end. Logically, each investigation has different paths and its own timing," he pointed out.