The socialist presidents of Aragon, Javier Lambán; Asturias, Adrian Barbon; Castilla La Mancha, Emiliano García Page; Extremadura, Guillermo Fernández Vara, and the president of La Rioja, Concha Andreu, have conveyed this Thursday their wish that a solution to the Law of Comprehensive Guarantee of Sexual Freedom, known as the law of ‘only if it is yes’, after several sentence reductions and releases of those convicted of sexual offenses have taken place based on the application of the norm.
They have also defended the work of the judges and have distanced themselves from the criticism of the Minister of Equality, Irene Montero, who has blamed the lowering of the sentences on the judges, for their interpretation of the law.
In this sense, Barbón has been in favor of the “immediate” modification of the norm. “When unforeseen and unwanted results are achieved, it must be rectified immediately”, he has indicated. The Asturian president does not doubt the “good will when legislating”, because, in his opinion, it is clear that the objective of the regulation was not to reduce the penalties, “quite the opposite”. The law tries to “unify the crime, be more burdensome and contemplate the importance of guaranteeing the free consent of people,” says Barbón. “Now, when the result that is achieved is the opposite -albeit in a limited number of cases-, what proceeds is to rectify it as soon as possible”, he has argued.
Regarding the judges, Barbón has said that “this is not about blaming them”, but about “seeking a solution to the problem”.
For her part, the La Rioja president has considered that “something has gone wrong” in the norm and has urged that changes be made. “If fortunately it is an organic law that can be reviewed, do what has to be done,” Andreu indicated.
Javier Lambán has expressed himself along the same lines, urging solutions to be found “as soon as possible” to the “loopholes” of the law. He has also stated that if there have already been several judges who have interpreted the norm in this way, “it almost certainly means that the law offers loopholes that give rise to this type of interpretation”, although he has pointed out that he is not the one to say if the Minister has to resign.
“Intellectual pride”
Emiliano García Page has dedicated harsher words to Minister Montero, considering that she displays “intellectual arrogance” for not recognizing her mistake, and has lamented that to “reaffirm herself” she opted for the option of “digging a trench”. However, García Page does not consider that the head of Equality has to resign, although he believes that a rectification should be demanded of her “especially of what is the accusation of an entire body of the State -the judges-“, he has pointed out.
The Prosecutor’s Office will review sentences
The State Attorney General, Álvaro García Ortiz, has assured this Thursday that the Prosecutor’s Office will review those sentences affected by the new law of “only yes is yes” and that it will do so “avoiding automatisms” and “with a clear priority and vocation of protection for the victims. He also recalled that “there has been a modification of the criminal types and this entails a review of some of the existing sentences.”
