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Protests erupted outside the court in Pamplona after the sentence was announced
A Spanish court has jailed five men for sexually abusing a young woman during the famous San Fermin bull-running festival but acquitted them of rape.
All five were sentenced to nine years in prison for their part in the attack, which they filmed, during the festival in Pamplona in July 2016.
The 18-year-old victim’s ordeal caused a national outcry, and protests continued outside the court.
Both the woman and the defendants say they will appeal against the verdict.
“It’s rape, not abuse,” demonstrators said outside the court. Several rallies have been called across Spain against the verdict and in support of the victim.
The five, in their late 20s and originally from Seville, and the victim, from Madrid, were not present when the judgement was read out after a five-month trial, which was held behind closed doors to protect the woman’s identity.
Under Spanish law, the charge of sexual abuse differs from rape in that it does not involve violence or intimidation.
The men, who have been in custody since 2016, have also been ordered to pay the woman €50,000 ($61,000; £43,500) in compensation.
What was the case against them?
Videos of the late-night encounter between the men and the young woman showed how the five men had wandered the streets among other drunken revellers before two of them led her into a basement by the hand.
According to a police report, the men – who belonged to a WhatsApp group called La manada (wolf pack) – surrounded the woman in a small alcove, removed her clothes and had unprotected sex.
Some of them filmed the sexual act on their phones – there were seven videos, totalling 96 seconds. One of the men posted messages in a WhatsApp group celebrating what they had done and promising to share the recording.
According to the police report, the victim maintained a “passive or neutral” attitude throughout the scene, keeping her eyes closed at all times. Her phone was then stolen.
She was found in a reportedly distraught state by a couple in the street outside the scene of the attack. She told the trial she was still having psychological treatment to deal with trauma.
Some of the men were found to be in a video in which they apparently abused another woman, who seemed to be unconscious.
BBC