Four men in Spain were convicted of their role in the killing of gay people on Sunday in connection with the killing of a young nurse, which sparked protests in Spanish cities and other countries.
Reuters reported that Samuel Luiz, 24, died in hospital in July 2021 after being beaten by a group of people outside a nightclub in A Coruña, in the northwestern region of Galicia in Spain.
The three men involved in the murder – Diego Montaña, Alejandro Freire and Kaio Amaral – were each found guilty of first degree murder. A fourth man, Alejandro Míguez, was found guilty of involvement. The fifth, a woman, was tried and acquitted of the charges against her.
Evidence presented in court showed that Montaña led the efforts after concluding that Luiz was gay based on his speech and clothes.
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BARCELONA, CATALONIA, SPAIN – 2021/07/09: Protesters are seen with a portrait of Samuel Luiz in LGBT colors and a banner reading, “hate speech kills” during a protest. Demonstrators took to the streets of Barcelona against LGTBI phobia and the death of Samuel Luiz, a 24-year-old gay man who was killed in a homophobic attack in the city of A Coruña, Spain. (Photo by Thiago Prudêncio/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images)
Montaña then began hurling homophobic slurs and slurs at Luiz before the attack and spoke against gays at the other suspects afterwards.
The trial lasted about four weeks before the case was submitted to the jury to decide the fate of Montaña, Freire, Amaral and Míguez. In the end, the jury found them guilty of the charges.
Sentencing is expected at a later date, and prosecutors have asked the judge to sentence him to between 22 and 27 years in prison.
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A CORUÑA GALICIA, SPAIN – NOVEMBER 24: (LR) Defendant Diego Montaña and his lawyer, Luis Salgado, defendant Catherine Silva and his lawyer, Luciano Prado, defendant Kaio Amaral and his lawyer, Jose Ramon Sierra, defendant Alejandro Miguez and his lawyer , Manuel Ferreiro, and the accused Alejandro Freire and his lawyer, David Freire, during the reading of the letter. Judgment in the case of Samuel Luiz, Provincial Court of A Coruña, 24 November 2024, A Coruña, Galicia, Spain. The famous jury has issued a verdict in the case of Samuel Luiz, in which he was found guilty of killing three of the five young men who were tried for the case of fatal assault, which happened in the early morning of July 3, 2021, in A Coruña, and as an accomplice to one of the defendants, while freeing one woman who tried. (Photo by M. Dylan/Europa Press via Getty Images)
“Today, 4 attackers were sentenced for the murder of Samuel Luiz,” Irene Montero, the former minister of equality in Spain, wrote in a blog translated to X, explaining that the men shouted insulting words at the victim. “I hope it helps to fix Samuel’s family and friends. Let’s not look at it the other way: the [LGBTQ-phobia] that killing starts with hateful comments or ‘jokes’, which are dangerous and must be stopped.”
Reuters reported that in 2023, there were more than 360 hate crimes related to sexual orientation or gender identity reported in Spain. Of those reported cases, 184 were arrested, Interior Ministry data shows.
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The European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights also reported that hate crimes are under-reported.
Reuters contributed to this report.
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