“Unfortunately an unfortunate accident occurred, but the blame lies in no way with the action of the police.” This is how the Barcelona court concludes the investigation opened against two agents of the Mossos d’Esquadra accused of having fired the foam projectile which put out the eye of a young woman during demonstrations against the imprisonment of rapper Pablo Hasel in 2021. The case is definitively closed to criminal proceedings. procedure.
In a judgment, magistrates conclude that the injury to the young woman’s eye was caused by the impact of a foam projectile from the Catalan police, while ruling out a “violation of protocol” on the part of the officers . The magistrates reject that the riot police had exceeded the Penal Code, not only by denying having acted with the intention of injuring the young woman but also because they concluded that their intervention was not reckless.
Quite the contrary. “It has not been established – concludes the resolution – that the behavior of the agents investigated violated the most basic standards of care. » The agents’ sole aim, insist the officers of section 21 of the Barcelona Court, was to “protect themselves”.
According to the judges, the regional police shooters fired the foam bullets authorized by their superiors and “in strict compliance with the protocols in force” in “adverse circumstances”, in reference to the ongoing unrest.
The facts date back to February 16, 2021. The Mossos fired dozens of foam projectiles to disperse a demonstration in favor of Hasel which had given rise to altercations. The various documents collected during the investigation of the case confirmed that Mossos protocols allow foam bullets to be fired at such a distance that they can cause serious injury.
In her complaint, the young woman stressed that at the time of her injury, she was with a group of pedestrians and journalists who were recording the events, “far” from the cordon formed by the riot police, about 20 meters away. , and “far”. of the area. » where launches could take place, which would pose a risk to the police cordon.
The judicial resolution casts doubt on the young woman’s version. Without attributing the injuries to him, as the investigating judge Joaquín Aguirre did, the Barcelona court accused the victim of having “performed two throws” against the police line. “It is possible”, adds the car, that the shooting took place while the young woman was bending down “to refuel with bottles to throw at the police line”, so that the impact of the foam projectile was felt. is produced in the eye when in reality It was aimed at the abdomen.
“It is not a question of seeking an assessment justifying the illicit behavior in which the agents engaged in order to exempt them, but only of seeking a reasonable alternative hypothesis to understand how a certain event, the injury, could have occurred,” concludes the order. The criminal proceedings having been closed, the young woman now has the door open to claim compensation through administrative channels from the Generalitat.
The Irídia Center, which prosecuted the case, highlighted that the Court order corroborates that the injury to the young woman’s eye was caused by a foam projectile, which, in the opinion of the entity, “confirms “the danger and the lack of precision of the shots”. these projectiles, which can cause irreversible injuries. »
