Spain: Protests at police brutality
01 March 1999
There have been protests at increasing levels of police brutality used to control demonstrations in Spain. They refer to events including a demonstration in Madrid in support of American political prisoner, Mumia Abu Jamal (and against the prison regime) which was violently broken up by riot police who beat more than 20 people on Saturday April 24. At the same time, police in Barcelona were attempting to stop a bicycle protest against evictions, when one of them pointed a gun at the demonstrators. There have been several occasions in which the police have used guns, including the killings of a youth from Dos Hermanas and another from Sabadell, shot by Guardia Civil and municipal police authorities. On Saturday April 11 a Guardia Civil killed Miriam Gomez Cuadrado, 21, in Seville after her friend failed to stop at a police roadblock because he was driving without a license. The police wanted to conduct a breathalyser test. During the car chase that ensued, brigadier Pedro Jimenez Monchon began shooting, killing Cuadrado. Monchon is presently suspended and claims he acted in self-defence.
Boletin Semanal de Centr@infos 28.4.99; Centr@infos no 41 (Barcelona) 12.4.99.