these data very relevant for Islamic detentions, but he still considers it even low, since, according to him, the rest of the detainees are in prison because of very weak evidences and it is to be expected that they will be set free in the future. 426
Again, three
sentenced to 8 years in prison for membership of a terrorist band, were released in April 8th, 2006 after the Supreme Court announced that it was going to sentence favourably the appeal lodged by the defense. 427 The relatives of the detainees are usually puzzled by the questions by the police after the detentions. The girlfriend of Y.G., who was arrested in June 2005 and is still in preventive detention, says that the police officers asked her if he was very religious, if he belonged to the Sunni or the Shiite branch, if he prayed five times per day, and questions like that, as if “that was a crime”. 428 Obviously, since they are considered “enemies”, for Muslims the principle of cogitationis poenam nemo patitur, which is valid only for “citizens”, is not in force. 429 In this case, which is taken as typical, she does not know exactly the accusation against her boyfriend, and the circumstantial evidences that sustain it, but she suspects (from the questions put to her by police) that the detention was due to the money (100 euro) that Y.G. transferred to a bank account of a preventive detainee who asked him for financial help. Five years ago, that detainee provided accommodation to Y.G. when the latter arrived from Algeria, and that was the reason he felt obliged to help him. But she claims: “that detainee is preventive and it cannot be a crime to lend him money!”. It seems indeed that the money transfers are the most usual evidence for the police to make detentions, since many informants gave this reason to us. But, as the judges systematically put the summaries under secret, the relatives don’t know exactly the reasons and evidences of the detentions, and neither do the defendant lawyers, as we said above. Any Muslim can be under suspicion, as it is the case of R.E., arrested on 28 June, 2005 and still in preventive prison. R.E. worked for the son of the former president of related to detentions and introducing them into a balance sheet. After that we have compared them with the data published by the Home Office in its yearbooks on anti-terrorism (Balances). There is a slight difference but we attributed it to the fact that some detainees do not appear in the yearbook as they were released without appearing before the judge. That was the case of O.T. and M., both detained in Badalona. 426 Personal communication, Sebastià Salelles, in charge of the defense of about 30 detainees. Interview held on 1 February, 2006. 427 “Excarcelados tres islamistas tras ser absueltos por el Supremo”, El País, 8/4/2006 428 Interview with N. on 11 March, 2006, held in Barcelona. 429 G. Jakobs, “La criminalización…”, 1997, p. 295.
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