Legality and Justice (I)

As I was requested some time ago, I am going to dedicate a post to the situation of Inaki de Juana. Having murdered 25 people, Inaki was judged and convicted to 3.000 years. Some may think that such a conviction could be considered as life enprisonment, however, the Spanish penal code, permitted De Juana to leave prison after a 18 years inprisonment.

Before him, some other terrorists had taken advantage of this legal situation, but maybe due to the different political environment it had not become such a noticeable fact. In this occasion, the fact that De Juana could be able to leave prison was seen as an insult by most part of the Spanish population, and so, there were several demonstrations to keep him in prison.

The solution to calm the social alarm that had been generated was simple: De Juana would be judged for having written an article in a newspaper, for what was called terrorism apology. The requested penalty, 12 years.

It is to be enfasized that this man is a murderer that does not regret having killed 25 people. In any case, it sounds ridiculous that writing an article can be almost as serious as his previous crime (according to the penalty), it sounds ridiculous that a man convicted to 3.000 years can leave prison in 18, and it is ridiculous that those ho have always defended our penal code now are trying to make a botched job in order to solve a little "legal system deficiency".

What is to worry is that the trial has not taken place yet, so the EX-convict has been in preventive prison from 2 years up till now, and his medical state is serious due to the hunger strike he has been seconding for the past two months. I wonder what can happen in case of death if he is finally considered innocent in this new trial. It is said that Legislative Power is perfectly separated from Executive Power, but if he was found inncocent after his death, it would only be a mistake for the judges, and an extremely serious situation for the Government.

What is legal may not seem just, but what could be just is certainly not legal, everything that is legal is fair? Everything that is fair is legal?