Police officer in Mallorca acquitted of homophobic harassment

Llucmajor police station. | Alejandro Sepulveda

Majorca Daily Bulletin reporterPalma19/03/2020 15:36

A court in Palma has acquitted a Llucmajor local police officer who had stood trial in February on a charge of harassment. The officer had potentially faced a two-year sentence for what was described as years of homophobic harassment. The victim, who continues to receive psychological treatment, had to stop work in 2015 because of the harassment.

In delivering the acquittal, the court considered that there may have been a situation of workplace harassment and "loss of professional prestige". Nevertheless, there was not sufficient objective evidence to prove, beyond any reasonable doubt, that the defendant had participated in this. The judge noted that this alleged conduct, which had gone on for years, had "not been noticed by co-workers and witnesses" who gave evidence during the trial.

The plaintiff had told the court that at meetings of the police force he would hear comments referring to him as gay and a poof. This had all started in 2004 when they were partnered in a patrol car. On one occasion, the accused had used the radio in repeatedly and sarcastically calling him a faggot. "I was stunned, overcome and insulted. I couldn't react. The whole station found out."

The defendant stated that the pair had shared a maximum of six shifts. "He is a person I do not know. It is untrue that I said faggot on the radio. No one believes this. A file against me would have been opened."