In 2015, Nahuel, an activist with the vegan anarchist group “Straight Edge”, spent up to 14 months in first-degree pre-trial detention before being acquitted along with his fellow activists. Following his complaint, the state must now compensate him with 54,650 euros.
We submitted an expert report to your case, which proves the damage caused by your arrest, wrongful imprisonment and solitary confinement in prison.
Nahuel, activist of the anarchist vegan group “Straight Edge”, is ordered by the National Court to pay compensation to the State after spending 16 months in prison. for offences that did not commit. The young man was one of the anarchists arrested in November 2015 in an operation that aimed to “protect the anarchists".“dismantle”to their collective. Its members were accused of both planting explosives in the ATMs of two bank branches, and of “supporting” attacks against the police via social networks.
Nahuel, who had 26 years old at the time of his arrest, he was even hospitalised 16 months in up to 5 different prisons. As he was accused of being a member of an armed gang, he was sent to FIES Regime 3 (Specially Monitored Inmate Files), which allows the insulation or solitary confinement. Nahuel spent periods in solitary confinement involving 22 to 23 hours a day inside the cell; he was only allowed to have the bare minimum of daily necessities and had serious difficulties accessing a vegan diet.
In March 2017, almost a year and a half after his arrest and in the absence of evidence, Nahuel was provisionally released pending trial. En July 2018, the 6 members of the “Straight Edge” collective” were acquitted. As the newspaper reports Public, Judge Carmen Lamela, who at the time was in charge of the Juzgado Central de Instrucción N.º. 3, The Court did not succeed in gathering evidence of the crime of terrorism that it accused the group of committing.
Now, the Audiencia Nacional has ordered the administration to pay compensation to the young man with 54,650 euros, He was imprisoned for the time he spent in prison on terrorism charges, despite his innocence. The sentence recognises the harm caused to the activist by being kept in isolation; the negative impact on his image and honour of having been part of such a high-profile case; and the psychological damage as accredited by the expert report provided by our Centre.
Psychosocial impacts
The wrongful imprisonment not only had consequences for Nahuel, but also had a serious impact on his family. As a result of his imprisonment, his family had to face a series of expenses for which they were unable to pay. Among other things, the family had to make an extraordinary financial effort to pay for his visits, due to the constant transfers to which the young man was subjected. In addition, the family also had to bear the stigma, due to the media coverage of the case.
His time in prison also meant that Nahuel lost a number of emotional ties and found it very difficult to establish new ones. The activist also points out that as a consequence of his fingerprint and its link to the case, He was turned down for several job offers.
As a result of all of the above, the young person suffers from a Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) The complex nature of the situation, which caused him severe suffering over a long period of time and affected his functioning and his relationships. Mistrust, loss of interest, motivation and projection are also a consequence of the time he spent in prison, even though he was innocent.