One of the five men convicted of the notorious “wolf pack” gang-rape in Spain seven years ago has had his sentence reduced under the botched sexual consent legislation that was introduced by the socialist-led government in the wake of public anger about the case.
The rape, which took place during the running of the bulls festival in Pamplona in July 2016, shocked the country, and nationwide protests erupted after the five defendants were initially convicted of the lesser offence of sexual abuse.
The rapists, who called themselves la manada, or the wolf pack, in their WhatsApp group, had their prison sentences increased from nine to 15 years each after the supreme court subsequently found them guilty of raping the 18-year-old woman.
Outrage over the case led successive Spanish governments to re-examine the issue of sexual consent, and new legislation popularly known as the “only yes means yes” law came into effect last October. It overhauled the criminal code by making sexual consent – or a lack of it – key in determining assault cases, in an effort to define all non-consensual sex as rape.
It also cut the minimum and maximum jail sentences, leading to some offenders having their terms reduced on appeal. More than 1,000 convicted sex offenders have used that loophole to get their sentences cut, and more than 100 have used it to secure early release. In April this year, the prime minister, Pedro Sánchez, apologised to victims for what he called the undesired effects of the new law.
On Tuesday, the high court in the northern region of Navarre, whose capital is Pamplona, announced it had reduced the sentence of one of the “wolf pack” rapists from 15 years to 14 years in light of the new legislation.
In their ruling, the judges said they had accepted an appeal to reduce the man’s sentence to bring it in line with the new law, which lowers the minimum available sentence from 14 years and three months to 13 years. As the supreme court had imposed jail time close to the minimum possible sentence for the offence, they said, they had decided to reduce the sentence accordingly.
However, one of the court’s judges, Esther Erice, opposed the reduction, saying it could not be based on “mere criteria of arithmetic proportionality” and needed to take into account all the elements that had informed the supreme court’s original sentence. The decision can still be challenged at the supreme court.
Spain’s acting equality minister, Irene Montero, who pushed the new sexual offences legislation, lamented the court’s decision. “Consent and the right to sexual freedom should be guaranteed by all the state authorities,” she said. “This decision from the Navarra high court is very painful, especially for the victim. We share her pain and we know that all victims deserve reparation.”
Opposition parties, which have repeatedly attacked the government for pressing on with the changes despite warnings from judges, lawyers and MPs, said the reduced sentence was proof of the Sánchez’s administration’s contempt for victims of sexual assault.
Alberto Núñez Feijóo, the leader of the conservative People’s party, said the consequences of the new law made a mockery of the government’s much-vaunted feminist credentials. “No other government has treated sexual assaults as more of a laughing matter than this one,” he said.
Pepa Millán, a spokesperson for the far-right Vox party accused Montero of ignoring its warnings over the changes. “She and the entire government are responsible for the release of sex offenders and for the harm women suffer as a result,” she said.
