The Sánchez government does not see a hate crime in a murder shouting 'death to Christians'

@ElentirENG ES 7·07·2023 · 7:02 0

The bias of the left when it comes to recognizing so-called hate crimes has once again been evident this week in Spain.

One person murdered in Islamist attacks against Catholic churches in Spain
The Sánchez government gave 61,000 euros to a pamphlet that promotes Christianophobia

Are government figures on religiously motivated hate crimes credible?

This Wednesday, the Minister of the Interior, the socialist Fernando Grande-Marlaska, met with the Monitoring Commission of the II Action Plan to Combat Hate Crimes 2022-2024, during which presented the "Report on the evolution of hate crimes in Spain 2022" (see PDF), according to which in Spain in 2022 there were 45 hate crimes based on religious beliefs or practices. Is it a reliable number?

There is data that tells us not. Last year, the Observatory for Religious Freedom and Conscience pointed out that there were 195 attacks on religious freedom in Spain in 2021. However, the government only recognized 63 hate crimes related to religious beliefs.

The testimony of one of the people who attended that meeting

Yesterday, the aforementioned Observatory revealed the curious criteria that the government has to classify hate crimes for religious reasons. Its president, María García, recounted what happened at the aforementioned meeting on Wednesday with the minister: "Yesterday I attended the meeting of the Hate Crimes Commission, of which you know we are an advisory organization", he comments. García comments that for three hours, of the more than 25 people in the room, she was the only one who remembered the murder of Diego Valencia at the hands of an Islamist last January in Algeciras, in attacks against churches that also resulted in a serious injury, the priest Antonio Rodríguez.

˝It seems that if the dead person is a Christian, it does not count˝

Let us also remember that the perpetrator of these crimes, a 25-year-old Moroccan, he shouted "death to Christians" when committing those acts. "It is a very clear case of hatred of Christians. But it seems that if the dead person is a Christian, it does not count", says María García, and adds: "I have asked the Minister of the Interior, Grande-Marlaska, who was chairing the meeting, whether his Ministry is going to include this murder as a hate crime in its 2023 statistics. The team of the National Hate Crimes Office, the representatives of the State Security Forces and Corps and the spokespersons of the associations present that the victims of attacks committed out of hatred of religious beliefs matter."

María García recalls what happened in February: "just one month after the murder of Diego Valencia, we asked the Hate Crimes Commission to call a meeting to discuss this issue. They acknowledged receipt, but did not they listened to us. So yesterday I raised my voice for him, for you and for all the believers". She also asked the minister for explanations for "all those people who are being fined for pray in front of the abortionists", reminding the minister that "religious freedom is being able to pray in a church, at home or on the street."

The unusual and superb response of Minister Marlaska

The minister's response was predictable, knowing his mood: "I shouldn't answer you, but I'm going to,", Marlaska said. "That's enough. That is, who considers that he should not answer to believers and civil society", María García points out. Immediately afterwards, the minister has alleged that "the tragic murder" of Algeciras "is being investigated as a crime of terrorism" and that, until it is investigated, it cannot be anticipated that it is a hate crime. Let us remember that it is about the murder of a sacristan and the attempted murder of a priest in a clear attack on the Church shouting "death to Christians", but the minister does not seem to be clear about it. Garcia notes: "Christian victims don't count, others do."

The government's double yardstick when it comes to cataloging crimes

It should be noted that the government does not expect to point out in its public messages as "sexist crimes" murders that are still under judicial investigation. Apparently, when it comes to the murder of a Christian because of his faith, the government changes its criteria.

It is not the first discriminatory attitude that the government exhibits in the face of this crime. Let us remember that the day after the Islamist crime, Sánchez referred to the sexton as "deceased", after speaking of other murder victims using the word "murdered". Likewise, on February 8, during a government control session in the Congress of Deputies, the president of the Vox party Santiago Abascal asked Sánchez about this crime and about the measures the government was planning to take about. As usual, Sánchez did not answer the question and limited himself to attacking the deputy who asked it.

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Photo: Efe.