Spanish Court Reopens Case of Moroccan Teen’s Death in Juvenile Detention Center

The court, at the end of July, granted the prosecutor’s request to consider the Ilias Tahiri case as a minor offense, although the young man’s family of Moroccan origin appealed, according to judicial sources at elDiario.es. In October 2020, the court had reopened the case, then annulled the dismissal in April, ordering the prosecution of the three security guards at the Tierras de Oria juvenile detention center.

According to the public prosecutor’s office, "the behavior of the persons under investigation could constitute minor and not serious negligence," provided for in Article 142.2 of the Criminal Code, which punishes with three to eighteen months in prison anyone who "through minor negligence causes the death of another." Last April, the provincial court considered that the restraint measures on Ilias Tahiri were applied "incorrectly" and concluded that there was "negligence resulting in death" on the part of the agents.

The court indicated that the trial will make it possible to determine the degree of negligence of the agents concerned and to convict or acquit them accordingly. However, the judges maintained the dismissal for the rest of the people cited in the case, including the director of the Tierras de Oria juvenile detention center, the representative of the management company and the representatives of the Council.

The judges believe that the criminal liability of the security guards is engaged in view of the video recordings showing the young Moroccan being immobilized on a bed in a prone position by them assisted by members of the center’s staff. It was during this brutal mechanical restraint measure that the young man died on July 1, 2019, despite attempts to revive him.