The Prosecutor's Office agrees with 33 defendants in the 'Hell's Angels' case and changes prison sentences to fines

The start of the trial was delayed for almost four hours due to the defenses' negotiations with Anticorruption

MADRID, 23 Ene. (EUROPA PRESS) -

The Anti-Corruption Prosecutor's Office reported this Monday, at the beginning of the trial in the National Court against the branch of the 'Hell's Angels' based in Mallorca, that it has reached agreements in accordance with 33 of the almost 50 defendants. In all these cases, the Public Prosecutor's Office substitutes the prison sentences it requests for fines with daily quotas of 4 euros.

Thus, for each year in prison, the defendants must face the daily payment of a fine of 4 euros for 24 months, always double the number of months that were requested in prison.

In addition, the team of prosecutors has indicated during the hearing that, in case of conformity, it is not opposed to the defendants being absent from the trial, although they must be available to the court if required.

Add to this that defendants who have suffered preventive deprivation of liberty, including the time of arrest, must be duly compensated. And they have added that, in case of compliance, the Prosecutor's Office also chooses to lift measures such as the confiscation of assets.

The trial has started almost four hours late due to negotiations between the Prosecutor's Office and the defense of the defendants in order to agree on these sentence agreements. The court, once the day began, and after reading the sentence requests, recalled that four of the defendants --including Juan José Valdés, Ömer Cicekdag and Heinz Gansmüller-- are in search and capture for not have appeared on view.

One of the prosecutors in the case, José Grinda, has also asked the magistrates to allow two more defendants to be included in the hearing who were not included in a first indictment but who were also interested in opening an oral trial for this same case. .

It should be remembered that the Anti-Corruption Prosecutor's Office presented its indictment in January 2019 against 47 natural persons and three other legal entities for 16 charges that result in a combined balance of 298 and a half years in prison.

The indictment issued at the time by investigating judge Eloy Velasco placed the German citizen Frank Hannebuth at the head of the organization, until then leader of the group in Hannover and considered one of the main leaders of the 'Hells Angels' in Europe. .

However, Hannebuth would have had the help of Khalil Yousafi and his brother Abdelghani, two lieutenants who would have facilitated his landing in Mallorca along with another "group of minions".

According to the court report, "the defendants are a group of people settled on the island of Mallorca who were part of an international criminal organization that revolves around a world motorcycle club known as 'Hells Angels Motors Club' (HAMC)".

HAMC, founded in 1948 in the United States, would function by "chapters", apparent "autonomous groups" that "in reality are circumscribed within a solid hierarchical structure" that exercises "internal control in a coercive or violent manner."

"The members of the HAMC are involved in serious crimes", which in this case have resulted in accusations of criminal organization, money laundering, drug trafficking, illegal detention, illegal possession of weapons, prostitution, threats, coercion, extortion, documentary falsification, concealment, omission of the duty to prosecute crimes, violation of secrets and bribery.