Four men in Spain were convicted for their role in what is being considered a homophobic murder on Sunday in connection to the killing of a young nursing assistant, which sparked protests in cities across Spain and abroad.
Reuters reported that 24-year-old Samuel Luiz died in a hospital in July 2021 after he was assaulted by a group of people outside a nightclub in A Coruña, which is located in the northwestern Galicia region of Spain.
Three of the men involved who committed the fatal assault – Diego Montaña, Alejandro Freire and Kaio Amaral – were each found guilty of aggravated murder. The fourth man, Alejandro Míguez, was convicted of complicity. A fifth person, a woman, was tried and acquitted of charges against her.
Evidence presented in court showed that Montaña led the efforts after concluding that Luiz was gay based on his speech and clothing.
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BARCELONA, CATALONIA, SPAIN – 2021/07/09: Protesters are seen with a portrait of Samuel Luiz in LGBT colors and a banner that reads, “hate speech kills” during the protest. Protesters take to the streets of Barcelona against LGTBI phobia and the death of Samuel Luiz, a 24-year-old homosexual young man murdered in a homophobic attack in the city of A Coruña, Spain. (Photo by Thiago Prudêncio/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images)
Montaña then reportedly started shouting homophobic insults and slurs at Luiz before the attack and made anti-gay comments to the other accused individuals afterward.
The trial lasted nearly four weeks before the case was placed on the jury to decide the fate of Montaña, Freire, Amaral and Míguez. Ultimately, the jury found them guilty of the charges.
Sentencing is expected to take place at a later date, and the prosecution has asked the judge for jail terms between 22 and 27 years.
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A CORUÑA GALICIA, SPAIN – NOVEMBER 24: (L-R) Defendant Diego Montaña and his lawyer, Luis Salgado, defendant Catherine Silva and her lawyer, Luciano Prado, defendant Kaio Amaral and his lawyer, Jose Ramon Sierra, defendant Alejandro Miguez and his lawyer, Manuel Ferreiro, and defendant Alejandro Freire and his lawyer, David Freire, during the reading of the verdict in the trial for Samuel Luiz, at the Provincial Court of A Coruña, on 24 November 2024, in A Coruña, Galicia, Spain. The popular jury has issued a verdict on the crime of Samuel Luiz, in which it found guilty of murder three of the five young men tried for the fatal beating, which occurred in the early hours of July 3, 2021, in A Coruña, and as an accomplice to another of the defendants, while it acquitted the only woman tried. (Photo By M. Dylan/Europa Press via Getty Images)
“Today, 4 attackers have been sentenced for the murder of Samuel Luiz,” Irene Montero, former minister of equality in Spain, wrote in a translated post on X, explaining that the men shouted a derogatory term at the victim. “I hope it helps to make amends for Samuel’s family and friends. Let’s not look the other way: the [LGBTQ-phobia] that kills begins with comments or ‘jokes’ that are hateful, harmful and must be stopped.”
Reuters reported that in 2023, there were more than 360 hate crimes related to sexual orientation or gender identity reported in Spain. Of those crimes reported, 184 arrests were made, Interior Ministry data shows.
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The European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights also reported that only a fraction of hate crimes are reported.
Reuters contributed to this report.
