The chief prosecutor of Algeciras explains that the perpetrator's mental disturbance does not rule out that the act is terrorist

ALGECIRAS (CADIZ), 27 Jan. (EUROPA PRESS) -

The chief prosecutor of Algeciras (Cádiz), Juan Cisneros, explained that the possible mental disturbance of the detainee for the attack on two churches in Algeciras, killing one person, does not eliminate the classification of a terrorist act, since "one thing is the principle of guilt and another the act itself committed".

"When victims so significant for their religion have been attacked, and when what has been done is an attack for religious reasons against another religion that they want to eliminate, then it is a terrorist act, because it is one of the motivations that includes the Criminal Code as a terrorist act", Cisneros explained in statements to Europa Press.

In this sense, he has pointed out that "there is some confusion when it is said whether it is a crime of terrorism and it is a question of mixing it with the fact that the person could be disturbed or not". The prosecutor has explained that "they are two different things", since "one thing is the principle of guilt, if he had full mental faculties, which will be determined during the investigation of the case by means of psychiatric and forensic reports, and another thing is the fact itself committed".

The classification of the act as terrorist is not eliminated by the fact that the person is disturbed, "simply that later when applying the principles of criminal law, this person can be acquitted and a security measure is imposed instead of a penalty, but that does not eliminate the classification of the act that has been committed as a terrorist act", explained the prosecutor, who added that "only in the event that the investigation shows that there is no terrorist motivation, then the National Court would lose its competence and the matter would return to the courts of Algeciras".

Juan Cisneros has indicated that "the first thing that must be taken into account is that it is in the initial phases of the investigation, that although the police have already done enough, with the arrest and search, now comes a more detailed part that is to determine If this person had some kind of external support for the facts, at least in his planning, and above all to study that process of radicalization that has led him to end up murdering one person and trying to murder another".

Regarding the expulsion order that the detainee had, Cisneros, in an interview on TVE collected by Europa Press, recalled that an expulsion order is an administrative procedure in which what Spain proves is that this man does not have the documentation to be in Spain.

In this sense, he has indicated that he makes a statement saying that this man is Moroccan, which is made by a statement of evidence, as is his own statement, but without being supported by any documentation or any paper. "When executing the order, which in this case was tried to be executed, it already depends on the collaboration of the country that we believe is of origin. If the country of origin does not recognize it, it does not accept it," he pointed out.

Thus, he explained that in this case a "second more complex process" begins, which is to identify this person and be able to determine their specific identity, "but if you do not have the full collaboration of the authorities of the country of origin, it is very complicated, which is why expulsion orders sometimes take months or even longer to be executed".

The fact that he was arrested and expelled from Gibraltar in three days in 2019 has pointed out that "it is different because that is a hot return, they catch you when you enter and it is easier there, it is easier to determine where you come from" .