The trial that was to be held on March 24th in Las Palmas de Gran Canarias against the anarchist union organiser Ruymán Rodríguez, accused by the Civil Guard (Spanish military branch of the police) of an alleged crime of “attack on authority” was finally postponed, at the request of three cops.
In 2015, Ruymán was abducted by the police and tortured for hours. When Ruymán threateaned to tell his lawers and take them to court for illegal detention and toruture, one of the cops claimed he had been kicked in the leg by Ruymán.
The police demand now that the case against them must be held at the Audiencia Provincial (the higher court in the region), under the claim that as police officers, they have a right to a special trial. They are also hoping to get some extra time and let things cool down. The Guardia Civil were not expecting the huge solidarity that the case of Ruyman has received. The trial will eventually go on and if Ruyman was to be found guilty he would be facing an 18 month prison sentence.
Ruymán has been involed with both FAGC (Anarchist Federation of Gran Canaria) and the Tenants Union for years. Back at the time of his abduction, the libertarian activist already denounced that his arrest was part of “a police campaign to destabilize the occupation project known as La Esperanza Community”, of which he himself had been one of the main promoters.
La Esperanza (Spanish for Hope) is today the largest housing self-managed project in the Spanish State, with more than 200 relocated people.
Currently, there are already 10 self-managed housing communities in Gran Canaria, with 1,000 people living in recovered homes. These are houses that, in all cases, have been abandoned for more than two years, and are owned by banks and vulture funds. The Tenants Union, with the support of FAGC, have found homes for families with no other alternative housing, migrants in a situation of police persecution or women victims of violence who are not receiving the necessary support from the state.
Ruymán has been selected once again to send a warning to the rest of the community and to protect the financial interests of banks and corporations. The Tenants Union has no leaders, but this is something that seems to escape the understanding of the police. We call for solidarity with Ruymán Rodríguez, union organiser, repressed, tortured and prosecuted by the Spanish state for housing the dispossessed.
Derry ABC
Derry Anarchist Black Cross 