The defense of the young women arrested in Santa Maria questions the Civil Guard colonel's version: "Either it's a mistake or they want to criminalize them"

PalmaThe lawyer for the two young women arrested for the graffiti on five real estate agencies in Santa Maria has accused the Civil Guard colonel, Alejandro Hernández, of "lying" about the development of the investigation after the statements he made this Tuesday. According to the defense, the account offered by the head of the corps does not align with what happened during the proceedings carried out at the homes of those under investigation.

In a press conference, Hernández defended the actions of the Civil Guard and assured that there had been "no disproportionality" in the investigation. The colonel attributed the controversy to the fact that the case had had greater media impact than other similar proceedings "where there is no fundamental disagreement between political or societal groups".

 The action, he defended, "was absolutely proportional" to the committed acts and the activists were made available to the judiciary a few hours after their arrest, which is why "in no case were they in the cells".

"I do not see any kind of disproportionality, I consider it adequate. What was done, simply, was to conduct a search to seize those items that had been used during the acts of damage and to secure these pieces of evidence by going to the home of the two detainees," he said.

Regarding the accusation of belonging to a criminal organization, one of the issues that has generated the most controversy, Hernández defended that the investigators have limited themselves to applying the Penal Code. According to his argument, this crime is configured when there are "more than two concerted individuals", so, in his opinion, "it fits perfectly".

The defense, however, rejects this version. The lawyer, Josep de Luis, points out that the colonel's statements regarding the search are not true. "Either it was a mistake, which leaves him as ignorant. Or it is part of the criminalization strategy," he maintains. In his opinion, it is not the same to state that the Civil Guard conducted a search as to explain that the detainees "voluntarily" gave them what the agents asked for. "In the Civil Guard's account, it sounds more serious to say that a search was carried out than to say that they voluntarily gave us what we asked for," he pointed out. However, de Luis points out that this did not happen because to conduct a search, judicial authorization is necessary.

The lawyer assures that the case continues without news in the court and explains that one of the main lines of the legal strategy will be to question the alleged voluntariness with which, according to the police report, the young women allegedly handed over several items of clothing to the agents. "The strategy will be to try to demonstrate that the handover of the clothes was not as 'voluntary' as the report says. This, along with other issues, we believe has led to several violations of fundamental rights. That's where we'll go," states the lawyer.