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COSTA BLANCA SUR / MURCIA Vol. 4 Issue 94 www.theolivepress.es July 13th - July 26th 2023 FREE
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A PERUVIAN expat has called in lawyers over claims he was beaten up by police and left in hospital with a ruptured bladder. In the alarming alleged attack, Diego Armando Torres, insists he was punched and kicked by six Guardia Civil agents on a Friday night. Even more shocking, he claims he was tied up and a plastic bag was put over his head nearly suffocating him. “I actually feared for my life, particularly when one officer told me ‘you’re going to die’,” he told the Olive Press this week. The incident happened when he and a friend were heading home to Sabinillas at 9:15pm, on June 16. Diego, 37, who arrived in Spain to work as a builder two months ago, had been out for some drinks in nearby Estepona. “We were pulled over at a motorway police check just before arriving in Sabinillas,” he explained. “They stopped us and asked my mate to step out of the car. I initially stayed in the passenger’s seat, but then got out to ask what was going on. “The agents told me to be quiet and
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Expat resident says he was brutally beaten up by Guardia Civil officers
insisted. “After a while they took me back to the car. I not to speak, but I asked again if ev- was terrified and erything was okay. I started scream“The police are now saying that I ing for help. used force and kicked one of them, Then, one of the but this is not true. officers punched “Suddenly they snapped and forced me in the face me to the ground and I was hand- through the open cuffed and taken to a police car.” window, cutting His mate, from Bolivia, who wants open my left eyeto remain anonymous, confirmed brow.” the heavy-handed arrest. At this point the “But when I dared ask a policeman attack got far why they were doing it, he replied; more sinister, he ‘do you also want to get hit?’ claims, after the “Diego was put in a car and that was police took him the last time I saw him that day,” back to a different explained his friend, who is also a smaller and darkbuilder. er room at the The victim claims he was then taken station. to the Guardia Civil barracks in Ma- “They tied my nilva where he was grilled on what ankles and wrists BEATEN: Diego with ruptured bladder he was doing in Spain. together, covered and (far left) face with cuts and bruises “I was very scared and just wanted to call someone,” he said. “Even- my head with a plastic bag and After the brutal assault, he was taktually they agreed but as I left my started punching and kicking me in en to the Policia Local Station in Estepona, where he was put in a cell phone in the car I couldn’t remem- the stomach,” he claims. ber any numbers apart from my “When I was about to asphyxiate, and fell asleep, but woke up around brother’s, who lives in Norway, and they would remove the bag then 3am with agonising stomach pain. they refused to call a foreign num- put it back on. They did this many Despite begging to go to hospital times. it wasn’t until 9.20am that three ber.” It was then that a couple of the offi- “An officer also stepped on my head, Guardia agents returned and took cers started slapping him in the face causing me injuries and bruises. him to a GP in Estepona, where the They kicked and punched me in the doctor told the officers he had to be telling him to ‘shut up’. “I remember there were up to six of stomach until I passed out from the taken to hospital urgently. He was taken to Marbella’s Costa them taking turns to slap me,” he pain. del Sol Hospital, where he under“ T h e went emergency surgery on a ‘rupw o r s t tured bladder’. o n e s He also ‘presented bruises on the w e r e , head and face’ according to the offiI esti- cial medical report seen by the Olive mate, in Press. See page 9 their 30s Diego has since taken legal advice and 40s, and is currently waiting to hear while two back from a public defender to file younger an official complaint. a g e n t s , A Guardia Civil official report claims probably Diego was arrested for kicking one in their of the agents, which he completely 20s, did denies. not do Leading Marbella lawyer Antonio t o c o n d i t i o n s . E n d s 3 1 / 1 2 / 1 9 . anything Flores, described the case as ‘an and actually tried to comContinues on Page 2 21/6/19 13:30fort me.” EXCLUSIVE By Alberto Lejarraga
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BEACH hoggers reserving breakfast slots on Calpe's beaches will be fined for hindering daily cleaning work. Calpe council has reminded beach users of local laws prohibiting planting deck chairs, hammocks, and umbrellas before 9.30am. Any belongings found before then will be removed and owners fined. Calpe's beaches councillor, Pere Moll, said: “We appeal to the civility of beach users to ensure beaches are not occupied before that time.” Police powers also mean that any beach equipment unattended for more than three hours will be taken away. For many years, Calpe council has received numerous complaints during the summer about people 'reserving' space on the beach with mid-morning arrivals finding large stretches occupied by sun beds and umbrellas with no owners in sight.
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