The Criminal Court number 1 of Almeria yesterday notified the sentence in which it acquitted the 28 people accused of causing damage to the facade of the El Algarrobico hotel (Carboneras -Almeria-), according to the owner of the hotel, in a Greenpeace action which took place on May 11, 2014.
This was announced by Greenpeace, celebrating the decision and that “everyone was acquitted“, in the words of the director of Greenpeace Spain, Eva Saldaña.
“They’re not going to silence us”
“This new conviction confirms that El Algarrobico should have gone down in history a long time ago, those responsible should pay for the damage and restore the ecosystem. Exercising our right to protest against attacks on the territory, the planet and people is an essential tool to bring about change and we will continue to do so. “They are not going to silence us,” added the head of the environmental organization.
Greenpeace’s action, carried out 20 years ago, triggered the accusation brought by the hotel’s ownershipwhich required a sentence of twenty-four months’ fine, at a rate of daily rate of 6 eurosa total of 1,080 euros for each of the defendants.
In addition, a one-year prison sentence was requested against each of them for an alleged crime of disobedience. In addition, requested 186,703 euros in civil liability for damages caused to the hotel.
For its part, the public prosecutor understood, like the defense, that no crime had been committed.none since it had not been possible to identify the people who had painted the facade of the hotelthat the accused had been identified on the beach, but not inside it and that, ultimately, this responsibility could not be attributed to the accused.
Presumption of innocence
Take the sentence again, in which the presumption of innocence prevailsthat it has not been proven that any of the accused personsThey forced their way in, and after breaking the padlock on the doorinside the El Algarrobico hotel or that they painted its facade black, according to Greenpeace.
The judgment also states that it has not been proven “that the accused did not comply with the order of the Civil Guard agents “appeared on the scene in proper uniform, so they left the property.”
Call
While we wait to see if the company that owns it, Azata, appeals the sentenceFrom Greenpeace, they consider that “this closes another chapter in the organization’s struggle for the demolition of the illegal El Algarrobico hotel.”
The organization emphasizes that “this sentence It joins more than 40 resolutions in agreement with Greenpeace and that they declared that the construction of the hotel was illegal.
For the environmental organization, “the hotel on El Algarrobico beach is a symbol of the destruction of the coast, It is one of the biggest urban planning scandals on the coast.“.
Greenpeace adds that “the various Administrations involved have allowed this monstrous hotel, with 21 floors and 411 roomswas built on one of the few undeveloped areas on the western coast of the Mediterranean: the Cabo de Gata-Níjar Natural Park.
