Hung Vinicius effigy suspects released under restraining order
Madrid, May 25 (EFE).- A Madrid court ordered the provisional release Thursday of four detainees for allegedly hanging an effigy of Real Madrid soccer star Vinicius Jr. by the neck from a bridge in January, charging them with a hate crime and banning them from entering certain locations.
The court forbade the suspects from approaching the player, his workplace and the Santiago Bernabeu and Civitas Metropolitano stadiums and also charged them with a crime against moral integrity, although it could be modified as judicial investigations continue, the court said.
It said the four must at all times remain more than 1,000 meters from the Real Madrid sports complex, where the incident under investigation occurred.
It also prohibits them from approaching all LaLiga stadiums during the competition’s soccer matches from four hours before the start until four hours after their completion.
The measures had been requested by the prosecutor’s office, public ministry sources told EFE. The detainees refused to testify during their court appearance.
The arrested are aged 19 to 24, and three of them are active members of the far-right ultra group Frente Atletico.
The effigy, made of an inflatable doll that wore the Real Madrid soccer player’s shirt, appeared hung on the morning of Jan. 26, hours before Real Madrid played city rivals Atletico Madrid in the Copa del Rey quarter-finals.
Next to the doll was a 16-meter-long banner that read “Madrid hates Real.”
The decision comes after three young people arrested by the National Police for allegedly insulting Vinicius in Valencia during a match last weekend were released Tuesday after giving statements to police. EFE
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