Spain: In brief (2)
01 November 1997
Spain: Proposed changes to Penal Code: The 100 penal law experts who form the Crime Policy Study Group have called for the elimination from the Spanish Penal Code of the offence of provoking hatred and discrimination, and have proposed alternative means by which the criminal law could protect marginalised social groups. However, SOS Racismo has opposed the elimination of the xenophobia offences.
Spain: new police squads: The recently established police Drugs and Organised Crime Units (UDYCO) will have a total of 1,200 officers from 1998. The intention is to provide these units with the most modern equipment and to centralise under a single command the fight against organised crime. The three areas on which the Units are to concentrate in the short term include Chinese illegal immigration networks, South American networks involved in illegal immigration and drug trafficking, and the settlement of Russian citizens with wealth of dubious origin. On 10 November the Bilbao High Court sentenced three members of the Guardia Civil for torture, jailing each of them four years, two months and one day, and depriving them of civil rights for six years, and requiring each to pay the victim Ptas 500,000 damages.