- In 2018, Silvia was detained and illegally assaulted by the Ertzaintza in Getxo (Bizkaia). Three years later, SOS Racism Bizkaia has denounced that justice "has placed only obstacles in the judicial process" and called for the process to be speeded up.
On 26 May 2018, a Bolivian woman named Silvia was illegally detained and violently assaulted at the Getxo (Bizkaia) police station.
SOS Racism explained in a statement what happened: Silvia was waiting for his partner in the lobby of a supermarket in Algorta, when two Ertzainas observed that one of the tenants inappropriately treated an indigent. When Silvia approached them and asked them what was going on, an agent pushed him forcefully and threw him to the ground, while yelling at him to return "to his country." When the pair left the store, agents told him they were going to stop her, according to the same source. They supported Silvia on the wall and put the wives on him.
He was not allowed to approach the couple and was taken directly to the police station in Algorta, where he was arrested. There, they recorded their portfolio and asked for explanations, but they did not get an answer. While she was being taken to the cell, a police officer beat her up to five times violently. Until the next day, he remained unattended in the cell.
Although Silvia denounced what happened, the association has denounced that in these three years justice has only hindered the situation. In addition, Silvia has reportedly been charged with resistance, two attacks on the authority and two other crimes of injury to the child. Only one of the agents involved has been charged with a minor offence of injury, for which he has been arrested.
According to the association, "such events are not isolated cases" and there have been numerous such incidents. They have therefore called on public institutions and policy makers to take action in this regard. They have also pointed out that the practice of falsely denouncing the complainant is repeated on many occasions and stressed that, in this case, the victim has been made invisible and criminalised: Silvia can be sentenced to 10 years in prison for a wrongful murder offence.
Finally, they have considered that "slow justice ceases to be justice" because the only thing that has been done judicially in three years has been to hinder the process and "analysis has created uncertainty and fear for Silvia". Despite the fact that there is a video of what has happened, "in the face of Silvia's accusation, only one officer is charged with a minor offence of injury", they have denounced.