The lawyer of the arrested young women in Santa Maria accuses the Civil Guard colonel of "lying" about the search

PalmaThe lawyer for the two young women arrested for 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 investigated.

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 underlying disagreement between political groups or society".

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

"I do not see any type 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 vandalism and to secure this 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 constituted 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 makes him look 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 conducted 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 it is necessary to have a judicial authorization.

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.