A new protest on the streets of Murcia was held on Tuesday to express the social rejection of the court sentence that allows businessmen who prostituted minors to avoid jail time. The demonstration, which was held next to the Palace of Justice, marched along the Gran Via. The demonstrators carried banners with slogans ‘It’s not justice, sexist sentences’ or ‘It’s not all men, but it’s always a man’.
The Board of Prosecutors also held its first meeting on Tuesday to discuss the sentences. The seven businessmen found guilty of paying for sexual relations with minors between 15 and 17 years of age, initially faced sentences totalling up to 25 years in prison per person – four years for each contact.
However their defence team negotiated with the prosecution a way out that allows them to remain free thanks to an agreement that reduces their sentences to five months in prison for each of these crimes. The agreement provides that the sentences will be suspended, as none of them exceed two years.
However, criticism from various social movements and the controversy that arose after the verdict was announced made the resolution of this case reconsidered. The week after the trial, the Regional Prosecutor, José Luis Díaz Manzanera, announced a meeting of the Board to discuss the suspension of the sentence and the serving of the prison sentence.
They are expected to reach an agreement before October 7, the date set for a hearing in which the judge will finally decide whether to suspend the sentences or not.
The convictions of those accused of the pimping network have sparked numerous protests and demonstrations in the Region from different social groups. On Tuesday, the most recent, saw dozens of people gathered at the Gate of the Palace of Justice in Murcia under the banner of the Feminist Assembly of the Region.
