(Reuters) – Four men were convicted in Spain on Sunday in connection with the homophobic murder of a 24-year-old nursing assistant that sparked protests in cities across Spain and abroad.
Samuel Luiz died in hospital after being attacked by a group of people outside a nightclub in A Coruña, northwest Galicia, in July 2021.
Diego Montaña, Alejandro Freire and Kaio Amaral were found guilty of aggravated homicide and Alejandro Míguez of complicity.
The A Coruña jury considered it proven that Montaña, the leader of the group, had come to the conclusion that Luiz was gay based on the way he spoke and the way he dressed, yelling homophobic insults at him before the attack and making anti-gay comments afterwards to him. the other accused.
The jury spent five unusually long days deliberating after a trial that lasted nearly four weeks. The sentence will be handed down later; The prosecution has requested prison sentences of between 22 and 27 years.
In Spain, some 364 hate crimes related to sexual orientation or gender identity were reported in 2023 and 184 arrests were made, according to data from the Ministry of the Interior. The European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights says only a fraction of hate crimes are reported.
(This story was refiled to correct a typo in the word “nationwide” in the headline)