Comrade Gabriel Pombo Da Silva was arrested in Portugal, on 25 January, under an ODE, Euroorden, issued by the Girona Criminal Court No. 2, of which Judge Mercedes Alcázar Navarro is a member, which, in May 2016, ordered the then director of the Dueñas prison (Palencia) to suppress the order for Gabriel’s immediate release. After three weeks of “kidnapping”, he was finally released on 16 June, and so proceedings were initiated to denounce him for malfeasance. The conclusion of this judge’s obsession with the European prosecution of the comrade, despite the fact that Gabriel was released in Spain on 16 June 2016, having served his full sentence, is for each of us to conclude. It is made clear that after that date, the comrade has not been charged with any crime, so there is no subsequent conviction.
This Criminal Court of Girona and its judge have made use of an ODE (procedure which entered into force on 1/1/2004, Framework Decision of the EU Member States) with the aim of facilitating the surrender of the accused and speeding up judicial cooperation between the states. Among other measures, it provides for very short bureaucratic deadlines, simplifies judicial procedures and abolishes the principle of double criminality for a large number of offences. It is difficult for the country called upon to surrender the accused to oppose it, provided that all the requirements are met (set out in a list of 63 types of criminal offence) and that the 3 exceptions allowing opposition to this order do not exist. Thus, it is more difficult to challenge extradition between EU member states than it once was.
Following his arrest in Portugal, the second part of the trial in that country, which had begun on 27 January in Porto, took place on 26 February at the Tribunal da Relação de Guimarães (2nd instance), which did not oppose the ODE issued in Spain. An appeal was lodged with the Supreme Court of Lisbon, which did not oppose it either.
– Thus, on 13 May, Gabriel was handed over to Spain, entering the prison of Badajoz.
– On 11 June, the Provincial Court of Girona handed down a sentence of 30 years’ imprisonment, of which, by virtue of that order, the fellow prisoner has still to serve 16 years, 2 months and 7 days.
– This sentence has been based on the non-recognition of the “principle of speciality” in Spain, which, however, was recognised in high judicial instances, in Germany, in 2016, dictating an order of immediate liberation from the prison of Dueñas (Palencia) because it considered his imprisonment irregular in every way.
– His legal defence, based on the above, has presented an appeal to the Constitutional Court, 2nd Chamber, Section 4, appeal no. 4.540/2020.
– Since 1 July, comrade Gabriel Pombo Da Silva has been held under the FIES 5 regime (special groups) at the: Mansilla de las Mulas Prison, Paraje Villahierro, 24210 Mansilla de las Mulas (León)
– Gabriel has his mail intervened upon, so the letters, always by registered mail, must be of encouragement and moral support, without political content.
Write to the comrade:
Gabriel Pombo da Silva
Mansilla de las Mulas Prison,
Paraje Villahierro,
24210 Mansilla de las Mulas (León)
Spain