The Barcelona court confirmed the filing of the case against the Mossos for the performance in which a A 19-year-old boy lost his right eye after receiving the impact of a “foam” projectile, on February 16, 2021 in Barcelona, during the protests against the imprisonment of rapper Pablo Hásel. In an order dated October 3, Section 21 justifies its decision by the “absolute absence of evidence” that any agent acted in violation of the protocol for using the launcher of these projectiles.
The magistrates emphasize that, even if “it is not risky to conclude” that the injury was indeed caused by a projectile from the Catalan police – despite the fact that Internal Affairs stressed that the absence of biological remains did not allow not to prove it -, “non-compliance with the protocol cannot be presumed” whereas we do not have any “indicative elements” for this.
The resolution recalls that the agents, during their statements, claimed to have respected the rules for using the launchers, and that the victim herself “did not see them fire”. The magistrates thus maintain that the allegations in the appeals concerning “professional misconduct” by the police “are only mere conjectures, and that the use of foam projectiles, according to the aforementioned protocol, is justified when its objective is “to neutralize violent behavior that can cause injury to people and things. Also that you should pull “prioritizing the areas from the chest down” and that “you should not pull on the head.”
Although the victim lost his right eye following the impact of a projectile, the Provincial Court indicates that “there is no statement, image or video” which allows us to deduce that the shooting was “a voluntary act or reckless” on the part of a police officer. . And we also don’t know which of the two respondents pulled the foam. He thus concludes that his action “was duly authorized” and that “it was carried out” in accordance with “the protocols in force”.
After hearing the judicial decision, both the private prosecutor’s office and the popular prosecutor’s office, led by the Irídia association, criticized the fact that the injury suffered by the young woman “went unpunished”, and they again denounced the danger of the use of foam projectiles. , due to their lack of precision.
