Thursday, 17 March 2016 - 12:59
Spain prosecutor asked to investigate PSV fans for hate crimes
A human rights group in Spain called on the Spanish prosecutor for hate crimes and discrimination to investigate an incident of PSV fans throwing change at a group of homeless Romani women in Madrid and cheering as they scrambled for the money.
The non-profit organization Movimiento contra la Intolerancia (Movement Against Intolerance in English) called the Dutch football supporters' actions "humiliating and degrading" against the women, spokesperson said to Spanish news agency Eldiario. The authorities "must not remain indifferent to such acts in a democratic society", the spokesperson said.
The group wants the Spanish prosecutor to work with the Dutch embassy to identify the suspects who can be charged with discriminatory crime. They want the authorities to consider ordering the suspects to pay damages to the victims. The group also called on European football association UEFA to take disciplinary action against the Eindhoven football club.
The video footage of the incident took the internet by storm, mainly thanks to Valencia based human rights activist Miquel Ramos, who raised the issue and posted the videos on Twitter. "I felt so angry with this attitude", he said exclusively to NL Times.
According to him, this type of attitude is not isolated to Dutch people alone. "I think is not a problem of PSV fans or people from Holland. I think racism and Romaphobia is everywhere, also in Spain", Ramos said. "I found also lots of comments on social media from Spanish people accusing these women of being 'shit' and that they deserve it. I collected some of these comments and also denounced them."
"Europe is sick. We see it every day in the treatment of refugees and the increase of the extreme right in several countries. It seems that we have forgotten our history", Ramos continued. "We can not remain indifferent to this situation, we must stop this hate speeches and these fascist attitudes."
Maria DancausaTrevino, a representative to the Spanish government similar in function to the commissioner of the King in the Netherlands, called the PSV fans' behavior "sad and sick", according to the Telegraaf. Spanish Home Affairs Minister Jorge Fernandez Diaz called it "unworthy".
Six PSV fans were arrested in the Spanish capital following the PSV vsAtletico Madrid match, RTL Nieuws reports. They were arrested around midnight in the city center for damaging cars, hassling passerby and disrupting public order.
https://youtu.be/w3VSKG9jkIM