26 ultras accused of the attacks on October 9, 2017 plead guilty and 25 accept between one and two years in prison

A total of 26 of the 28 accused of attacking and coercing attendees at the October 9, 2017 demonstration in Valencia and media professionals who covered the march have admitted their guilt this Wednesday and have accepted sentences. of prison of between 12 and 24 months and the payment of 46,000 euros in compensation to those attacked after an agreement of agreement between the parties.

The sentence is for crimes against the exercise of Fundamental Rights, aggravated by hatred, public disorder, coercion, minor threats, injuries and mistreatment.

Upon leaving the court, one of the convicted men addressed members of the October 9 Commission, who were demonstrating at the doors of the courts with slogans against fascism, and told them: “We gave you little that day.” .

In the courtroom, the court of the first section of the Provincial Court of Valencia has read the agreement accordingly and one by one the accused have accepted their responsibility for the facts and the sentences.

In addition, they must pay approximately 49,000 euros in costs.

Those convicted - once the sentence is handed down - will not be able to approach the attacked people for three years and five months nor will they be able to get closer than 100 meters to the headquarters of the organizations that called the demonstration - the Comissió 9 d'Octubre - or to 300 meters from the events they organize.

The majority have accepted prison sentences, although one of the 26 members has escaped prison by paying a fine, according to judicial sources.

Two of the defendants have rejected the agreement and will undergo trial, which will resume on March 4.

The prison sentence will be suspended, as it will not be longer than two years, once there is a final sentence and conditional on not committing another crime and taking an equality course.

“That 26 people with a long history of attacks have been convicted is a historic fact,” said Anna Oliver, president of Acció Cultural del País Valencià and spokesperson for the Comissió 9 d'Octubre at the end of the hearing.

“We celebrate that impunity has ended.

It is a contained joy because we would have liked the sentences to be greater but we celebrate that we have achieved the objectives that the Commission set out to do: the recognition of the facts, that a crime had been committed against freedom and democratic principles, that the penalties were paid. compensation to the victims and the safety of future acts will be guaranteed [with the restraining orders],” the spokesperson added.

This hearing should have started last September with an agreement by 26 of the 28 defendants, who were going to accept sentences of between 16 and 19 months in prison.

The defendants who were going to settle, many of them belonging to the defunct Yomus group and who exhibited neo-Nazi symbols during the demonstration, had already paid the civil liabilities and costs of the procedure as part of the agreement.

But the agreement was blown up at the last minute and was suspended until March after one of the defense lawyers stated that he was unaware of all the details of the final agreement reached with the accusations, especially the one that had to do with the restraining orders. , with which the president of the court decided to suspend the trial and postponed it to March.

Finally, the first session has been brought forward to this Wednesday.

The Valencia Prosecutor's Office initially requested sentences between three and seven and a half years in prison for the accused.

And the Comissió 9 d'Octubre - which exercises private prosecution through Acció Cultural del País Valencià (ACPV) - added that of damages, hatred and belonging to a criminal group, and for recidivism in some cases, and requested sentences of between 5 and 11 years in prison.

Events from seven years ago

The events on trial occurred on October 9, Valencian Community Day, six years ago, when one of the accused, known as

El Alfarrasí,

entered the Plaza de San Agustín in Valencia, the starting point of the demonstration. , along with other people singing songs, shouting and performing the salute that consisted of keeping the arm raised, typical of fascist and neo-Nazi movements.

The actions of these people, who rebuked the protesters and rushed towards where they were, despite the police cordon, caused the security barrier to finally give way.

This gave rise to a stampede that made the normal course of the demonstration called by the Comissió 9 d'Octubre (a conglomerate of nationalist and left-wing entities) completely impossible, according to the provisional qualification document from the public ministry.

Catalanist groups such as the CUP and Arran joined the tail end of the demonstration called by the commission.

The ultras were involved in the first violent altercations, with attacks and punches against participants in the demonstration.

For example, several defendants followed two protesters and kicked one of them hard as a trip, which caused him to fall to the ground and dragged his companion along in his fall.

Once there, they were attacked with the pole of a four-bar flag.

Another protester intervened to defend the victims and a large number of defendants pounced on him and cornered him.

It is just one of the scenes that could be seen that day as the altercations were widely recorded by the media.