The trial of four Portuguese men accused of raping two young women in Gijón, Spain in the summer of 2021 commenced this Wednesday, four years after the incident occurred.
Upon arrival at the court, the defendants’ lawyer, Germán Inclán, expressed his expectations of proving the “innocence” of his clients during the trial.
“From the beginning, when they were detained, they stated that there was a sexual encounter between them [the four Portuguese men] and the two women who filed the complaint, but it was always consensual,” he asserted, adding that “the evidence is solid” and favorable to the Portuguese defendants.
“The statements of my clients are consistent, contrary to those of the complainants,” he emphasized, as reported by the newspaper La Nueva España.
The defense strategy is partially based on a video lasting one minute and 42 seconds, which reinforces the argument that the encounter was consensual.
Regarding the injuries the women reportedly suffered during the alleged assault, Inclán acknowledged that they could be consistent with an assault but “also with fifty other things.”
“We believe in the law and in its proper application,” the lawyer concluded, expressing confidence in the acquittal of his clients.
It was announced at the start of the trial that the defendants would testify at the end.
The charges claim that the women met two of the Portuguese men at a bar and agreed to have sexual relations with one of them at the accommodation where they were staying, only to be subsequently assaulted there by all four men now on trial.
After leaving the accommodation, the women proceeded to a police station to file a complaint and were subsequently attended to at a hospital.
The accused, all residents of the Braga region, were aged between 22 and 26 at the time of the alleged crimes, which took place while they were vacationing in Spain.
One of the men faces charges of two counts of sexual abuse, with the prosecution seeking a ten-year prison sentence.
The other three are charged with one count of sexual abuse each (one in the form of complicity), with the prosecution requesting prison sentences ranging from one year and three months to five years.
The two women have also filed a “private prosecution” in the case, seeking prison terms for all defendants, ranging from one year and six months to 22 years.
Both the Public Prosecutor’s Office and the private prosecution are also demanding compensation for the women from the defendants for physical and moral damages.
