Barcelona - A Spanish judge Thursday questioned a young man
accused of a racist attack which has sparked protests from
governments in Latin America.
The Barcelona judge also interviewed the man's victim, a 17-year-
old Ecuadorian girl, and a witness of the attack.
The judge was then to decide whether to order preventative prison
for Sergi Martin, 21, as has been requested by the Ecuadorian
government.
Martin suddenly attacked the girl on a Barcelona train on October
7. Security cameras recorded images of Martin kicking the girl in the
face, hitting her and touching her breast.
The girl said he shouted racist insults. The only other passenger
who was present did not intervene.
The judge in charge of the case granted Martin conditional
freedom, but the case sparked an international scandal which prompted
prosecutors to consider requesting jail for Martin.
Ecuadorian President Rafael Correa called the girl and sent
Foreign Minister Maria Fernanda Espinosa to Barcelona to arrange her
legal defence. The country's parliament has approved a resolution
condemning the attack.
Deputy Foreign Minister Rafael Paredes protested to the Spanish
embassy over the release of the attacker.
Paraguayan Foreign Minister Ruben Ramirez pledged to raise the
issue with the Spanish authorities during his upcoming visit to
Spain, and the Peruvian government proposed a Latin American protest
over the incident, according to Spanish news reports.
Spanish Foreign Minister Miguel Angel Moratinos apologized for the
attack. Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero also condemned
it, as did the Catalan regional parliament on Thursday.
The General Council of Judicial Power (CGPJ), Spain's highest
judges' organ, pledged to investigate whether the judge in charge
acted correctly when releasing Martin.
People who knew Martin described him as a violent and immature
person with no clear racist or far-right ideology. The young man had
a serious psychiatric disorder, according to a psychiatrist who had
treated him.
Martin claimed to have been drunk when attacking the girl, who
said she had suffered from headaches and chest pains since that day.
Catalan regional Justice Minister Montserrat Tura said television
images of the attack had sparked a wave of solidarity for the victim,
but that all racist attacks should be treated in the same way
independently of the media attention they received.
Other experts criticized the mediatization of the case, saying the
media had made Martin see himself as a hero, and warned that others
could imitate him.
© 2007 dpa - Deutsche Presse-Agentur 
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