A Spanish judge has opened an investigation into a young man accused of faking a homophobic hate crime that fooled many establishment politicians.
The 20-year-old claimed to have been subjected to a brutal homophobic assault in broad daylight in the Madrid neighbourhood of Malasaña, claiming that eight hooded men had assaulted him and carved homophobic slurs into his buttocks.
However, later reports proved that the allegations had been totally fabricated and that the 20-year-old had made up the story in order to hide the fact that he had been unfaithful to his current partner and he later admitted that the carving on his buttocks had actually been consensual.
Now, a judge in Madrid is launching an investigation that could see the 20-year-old charged for falsely reporting a crime, which, according to a report from the newspaper La Vanguardia, could carry a sentence of up to a year.
The law is defined as “pretends to be responsible or victim of a criminal offence or denounces a non-existent one, provoking procedural actions.
According to the newspaper El Pais, the 20-year-old had met two men online and engaged in sadomasochistic activities and when he went to the hospital to treat his wounds, the nurse reported the incident to the police, leading to the investigation.
Many in the Spanish government were fooled by the initial report, with some, such as Interior Minister Fernando Grande-Marlaska, who used the incident as a way to attack populist party VOX, saying they pushed the limit of respect for diversity and democratic values.
After the hate crime was revealed to be a hoax, VOX demanded that Grande-Marlaska resigns as Interior Minister.
VOX leader Santiago Abascal slammed the Spanish Socialist Workers’ Party government saying, “The brutal aggression, in the end, turned out to be a crude hoax fed by the Government and its media lackeys to point out VOX.”
Days following the announcement of the hoax, the government also revealed plans to create specialised “hate crime” groups within the Spanish national police force and the Civil Guard.
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