Thousands turn out at Madrid march in protest at Strasbourg ruling

Tens of thousands of people marched in Madrid on Sunday to protest a ruling by the European Court of Human Rights that has opened the door to the release of terrorists, rapists and other violent criminals before they serve the maximum term behind bars allowed by Spanish law.

The protest was organized by Spain’s largest terrorism victims association, the AVT, which is describing itself as “the last bulwark of democratic dignity in Spain” after the Spanish courts released two ETA terrorists and one rapist shortly after the Strasbourg court announced its decision to strike down the so-called “Parot Doctrine.” This legal tool effectively cancelled out the generous term reductions that prisoners enjoyed thanks to the 1973 penal code, which enabled long-term convicts to bring down their sentences to as little as 18 years. The Parot Doctrine instead meant that they would stay in jail for the 30-year maximum legal term, as reductions were deducted from the sentence total.

After days of hesitation, the ruling Popular Party (PP) sent some of its top officials to the march. Leading party members included Madrid Mayor Ana Botella, former Madrid regional premier Esperanza Aguirre and Eurodeputy Jaime Mayor Oreja.

“We have given up on any type of revenge out of faith in the rule of law, and all we ask of the state is one thing: justice, complete and in capital letters,” said AVT president Ángeles Pedraza.

But despite the AVT’s deliberately self-contained tone, there was still anger in the air at Plaza Colón over the government’s prompt response to the European ruling. The most vocal critic was the event’s host, the journalist Isabel San Sebastián.

“For the government to take no more than 24 hours to implement a ruling is ignominious,” she said. A few dozen people repeatedly lashed out at the prime minister with cries of “Rajoy, traidor” (“Rajoy, you traitor”). The AVT president at one point interrupted her address to ask for silence.

The PP’s decision to attend the march was an attempt at showing public sympathy for a group that feels particularly upset at the European court’s decision. The conservative party has always styled itself as the main supporter of the victims of ETA, the Basque terrorist group that killed over 800 people over the course of four decades.