Judge runs into 21 passengers forced to make emergency landing in Palma for riots

“Based on the facts, it can be considered as an indicator that the investigated passengers had a clear purpose, violated immigration law and entered Spain irregularly.” This is the conclusion reached by a judge investigating a forced admission that occurred on November 5 at Palma Airport over alleged medical emergency, during which up to 25 passengers jumped off a plane covering the Casablanca-Istanbul route and race. They ran on the rails.

During the thirty-page order accessed by elDiario.es, the magistrate described in detail how everything happened and considered it “unthinkable” that the defendants “were unaware of the serious consequences that could result from public order. Behavior” and that He argues, he argues, “a violation of the law that seeks to protect the interests of the state in controlling migration flows, which is still the collective interest of the state.”

Thus, the judge declared the prosecution of 23 of the escaped passengers, 21 for the alleged crime of mutiny – and in two of them for coercion – and for promoting the illegal immigration of two more. In addition, he summons them to appear on May 2 to question the facts attributed to them, in what is known as a normal summary, is called an investigative statement. Prosecutors and prosecutors are subsequently notified to request that an oral trial be opened or, conversely, that the investigation be closed.

Until now, the persons under investigation have been defending their actions under conditions of presumed necessity, a legal figure that is rare in Spanish courts, which lies in the fact that the conduct of the persons under investigation would have been justified if it had been carried out to prevent worse. The situation – in this case the horrific circumstances in which they found themselves in Morocco – provided that their need was proven to be real and objective and that before committing the crime they tried to act through legal means to put an end to their situation.

In his resolution, the head of the Palma 6th Investigative Court bases the accusation of mutiny on various circumstances, such as the fact that “there are a number of guidelines that allow us to think that we are facing a pre-conceived plan.” Such a concert, he notes, consisted of simulating or challenging a passenger’s alleged serious illness, taking advantage of the fact that other people were fleeing and violating Spanish regulations on people entering Spain.

“It was a moderately organized group, even without getting to know each other in person,” the car continued. The investigation actually indicates that all of them were organized through a Facebook group called Brooklyn, against which the defendants’ defense rules out that the profiles they post on this page correspond to any of the escaped passengers.

In addition to the alleged preliminary agreement, the resolution states that the flight along the runway affected the air traffic safety of those flights that were in the process of taking off and landing “due to the presence of a group of people who fled the road. Runways that pose a threat not only to themselves but also to the aircraft that were spinning on the airport runways at the time. An emotion that was not only inevitable given the organized chaos, but also the perfect expectations of the detainees. ”

The incident led to the closure of the airport – one of the facilities supporting the highest air traffic in Europe – and the paralysis of its operations for almost four hours. Up to 12 flights were diverted to Ibiza and Menorca; Eleven departures and eleven arrival flights were canceled and all those whose departure or destination was at Palm’s airport were postponed.

The judge also notes that another demand for the crime of mutiny is riot, and, in this case, argues that the riot inside the plane was “equivalent to the revolt of hundreds or thousands of people.” In this case, the riot must be related to a specific case, ie the uprising of 25 people in a small space, such as a passenger plane, in which such intensity was used by both the sick passenger and his companion. According to the commander, which caused the plane to stop, as well as 23 fugitive passengers, which caused chaos and aggression.

According to its resolution, the group of passengers “used force or outside the legal channels as a means of commission”, ie the induced admission of the aircraft, aggression against the crew – according to the manager of the aircraft cabin. One of his companions was “pushed so hard that he fell down the stairs”, while the other crew member was injured in the back, arm and shoulder – and ran to the airport runways to reach his goal. “Perfect expectations,” adds Magistrate, which led to a “hostile and terrifying” situation.

The judge focuses on facts such as the behavior of 23 defendants who “immediately fled” after an ambulance team treating an allegedly ill passenger went on a flight which, he explained, “makes no sense unless it is related to the previous The plan, as the plane was destined for Istanbul, “a small piece of luggage that they had tied up;

In this regard, one of the defenders denies that the lack of time indication by both investigators and aeronautical operators of the exact moment of the plane’s escape reflects the unrealistic appearance of the immediate flight. “The truth is that the passengers who stormed the runways did so more than two hours after being evacuated to Mr I.J. Hospital, otherwise closing the airport after almost three hours would be pointless,” he said.

The court resolution emphasizes that the persons under investigation “stood together and opposed frontally” to carry out orders given to them loudly by both the commander and the two flight coordinators: to stay seated and not to leave the plane. “The investigated passengers were under obvious pressure to enter Spain irregularly, they were not interested in route variability and cessation of navigation,” the order said. The events also forced the airline operating the flight, Royal Air Maroc, to change its protocols.