Scandal proves #CanaryIslands justice not up to European standards

A shocking audio recording provides a rare glimpse into the inner workings of the higher echelons of judiciary administration in Spain and the prejudices of persons involved in it. Spanish judiciary has become embroiled in an unfolding scandal involving four magistrates at the Audiencia Provincial (the highest provincial court) in Las Palmas, Canary Islands, Spain, after a tape of supposedly secret deliberations was used as evidence in a corruption case and subsequently leaked to the press.

The newspaper Canarias 7, which was the first one to publish the tape, identifies the speakers as the chairman of Audiencia Provincial Emilio Moya, and magistrates Jose Luis Goizueta, Carlos Vielba and Salvador Alba.

During the first ten minutes of the conversation, the judges make quick decisions on half a dozen of cases, with more personal appreciation than any legal arguments, interspersing their deliberations with laughter, jokes and gossips about the accused, their lawyers and prosecutors.

The conversation between the magistrates switches to the matter of foreigners who live on Canary Islands:

“All Russians who do not live in Russia and Italians from Southern Italy are criminals”, “all Romanian women are prostitutes” are but a few examples of opinions expressed by the magistrates of the high court.

One of the judges states, with disbelief, that he has seen Russians riding bicycles in his neighborhood. “Russians on bicycles?” another judge repeats with a hint of doubt, while the third judge expresses his concern about Russian children attending the same school as his kids.

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“I am afraid about the school. There are Russians in the school. There’s a new Russian kid… looks like a mafioso.”

“Isn’t it possible that not every Russian is a criminal?” comments the second judge.

“Not in Russia, but those who come from Russia, especially young guys, are all Mafia.  All Southern Italians who live further south than Rome are Mafia.”

The xenophobic conversation continues as another judge recounts an anecdote about a Romanian citizen that he used to know personally, and who ended up arrested. Everyone laughed in appreciation.

“And all Romanian women are prostitutes,” says the same judge, who had condemned all the Southern Italians and Russians living abroad earlier.

“Would you like your children cared for in your home by an Albanian? This is just the same.”

A magistrate says that he would invite a Kosovo Albanian into his home, provided that: “I know he is my friend.”

As the Spanish public and media are starting to realize, the racial and xenophobic prejudices have become commonplace in the Spanish legal system; thus, it is little wonder that Spain ranks among the most corrupt countries by the level of judiciary corruption, pursuant to the Resolution 2098 (2016) of the Parliamentary Assembly based on the Transparency International findings.

Spanish newspaper Madridcode also links the xenophobic prejudices expressed by Spanish judges to the case of Kokorev family, Spanish citizens of a mixed Russian and Jewish origins.

In our earlier article, we wrote that Vladimir Kokorev, his wife Yulia and son Igor are held in prison at Las Palmas (Canary Islands, Spain), for 18 months, without charge or trial, and all information is covered by the secrecy of the alleged investigation.

The Kokorev family were put into prison subject to the arrest warrant issued by Ana Isabel de Vega Serrano, an investigating judge in Las Palmas, who based her decision on an application from the Panamanian attorney Ismael Gerli. The Panamanian Prosecution recently charged Gerli with the forgery of documents and fraudulent appropriation of Kokorev’s property; however, the family is still in jail, and this fact raises doubts as to real motives of the Las Palmas judge.

In addition, Spain ranks first among European countries by the level of anti-Semitism, pursuant to the Gatestone Institute report.

Today, the 21^st century Spanish justice applies the principles of the 15^th century, so there is a rationale to the well-established joke that Europe ends at the Northern Pyrenees.

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