This article was published in 2018
The news of the release from custody of the five members of the so called Manada (wolf pack) has sparked reactions of anger and impotence on social media. A Navarre court has ordered their release on bail of the five men sentenced to nine years each for sexual abuse of a young woman during Pamplona's San Fermín festival in 2016.
Thousands of internet users, not believing what was happening, attacked the Spanish justice system. It didn't take long for comparisons to be drawn between the freedom the members of the Manada will enjoy and the situation of the Catalan political prisoners, in custody for over eight months in some cases without a trial or sentence.
Translation: Spanish (in)justice leaves the 'Manada' on conditional release. The same (in)justice which bars a mayor from office for hanging up an 'estelada' [pro-independence flag], which forces a rapper to flee over the repression and which keeps 9 people of peace in prison. #BrandSpain
President Carles Puigdemont: A new and worrying legal, human and rights-related step back, and a new frontal attack on women. The message being sent is horrendous in a 21st century European society.
Catalan culture minister Laura Borràs: Really!? Conditional release for the group rapists of the 'Manada', some of whom were meant to protect the public instead of attack them? How can you support totally inhuman injustice which gives its blessing to intolerable attitudes while we have pretrial detention for innocent people?
JxSí deputy Antoni Castellà: They release the rapists of the 'Manada' [who've been] tried and keep in prison Catalan politicians [who have] not [been] tried. That's dialogue in Spain!
Politician Lluc Salellas: In the Spanish state, being a rapist gives you more freedom than organising a referendum.
ERC Congress deputy Gabriel Rufián: It costs more to vote than to rape. // To the squares.
Criticism has also come from the defence counsel for those under investigation for their roles in last year's Catalan referendum. Carles Puigdemont's lawyer Jaume Alonso-Cuevillas tweeted: "New policy when it comes to conditional detention? Or only for some?".
Many users drew comparisons with other recent rulings. The most-frequently mentioned were the decision by National Audience judge Carmen Lamela to file the lawsuit against Real Madrid president Florentino Pérez and five former Spanish ministers in the so-called Castor case and king Felipe VI's brother-in-law Iñaki Urdangarin, who this Monday entered a prison he had chosen and a wing with no other inmate.
Judge Lamela exonerates Florentino Pérez and 5 ministers for the Castor [case] /// Urdangarin with unprecedented privileges // The Navarre Audience grants conditional release to the 'Manada' // And in prison, democratic politicians for defending peaceful ideals // SPAIN
Legal balance sheet of the day: // -Ban from public office for 6 months for Montse Venturós for not removing the 'estelada' // -The complaint against Castor dismissed, 3.5 billion euros paid between them all to nationalise losses // -Conditional release for the 'Manada' // Let's organise ourselves
The list of criticisms is unending. Especially from pro-independence circles, where many have denounced the lack of justice in Spain and expressed their desire to disassociate themselves from the legal system. The decision has been taken as a "provocation" or a "prank".
You're never prepared, however much you stopped believing in justice a long time ago. I'd burn it all!
Anger, disgust and shame!!! The sentence of 9 years for the rapists of the 'Manada' was already ridiculous, but leaving them on conditional release with bail of only 6,000 euros is a joke! Let's leave already! There's no justice here!
They're looking for an uprising and a lynching, be it for Catalonia, be it for Altsasu, be it for Murcia, be it for the 'Manada'. There are constant provocations against the whole political-social collective and I believe that the glass has just filled to the brim reading certain reactions.
The 'MANADA' has conditional release. I have no words.
PSC and Cs: respect for legal decisions
Others have been more moderated in their disagreement, noting that above all, legal decisions have to be respected and followed. PSC's leader, Miquel Iceta, and Ciudadanos' leader in the Catalan Parliament, Inés Arrimadas both tweeted within hours:
The required compliance with judicial decisions doesn't prevent disagreeing with it. I'm indignant over the 'Manada' case! // Today, more than ever, on the side of the victims.
I respect judicial decisions but, as a woman, I feel great concern knowing they're in the streets. There has to be a clear and firm commitment from all in favour of equality. Let's revise our penal system with consensus to try to avoid these situations.