#48: SOCIALIST SPAIN REDUCES SENTENCES FOR 1,079 RAPISTS
Eurovision rejects address by Zelenskyy + homicide rate tanks in El Salvador + law to ban gender surgery on kids to be introduced in Poland + MORE!
SPAIN’S EQUALITY LAW LEADS TO REDUCED SENTENCES FOR 1,079 RAPISTS
A new law in Spain that was meant to strengthen the protection of victims of sexual violence has sparked a controversy after it resulted in some convicted rapists having their sentences reduced or even being released from prison.
The law, which came into effect in October 2022, changed the definition of rape to make consent the key factor. It also abolished the lesser charge of sexual abuse and merged it with sexual assault, which carries harsher penalties.
According to legal experts data from the General Council of the Judiciary shows that 1,079 criminals convicted of rape have seen their sentences reduced since the law took effect. Of these, 104 have been released from prison entirely.
The law has also faced criticism from victims’ groups, lawyers, and judges, who have denounced its unintended consequences and its lack of clarity. Some have accused the government of rushing the law without proper consultation or analysis.
One of the victims who has been affected by the law is Antonia Garcia, who was raped by her former husband in 2019. He was sentenced to 10 years in prison for two crimes of sexual assault and one of domestic violence. However, under the new law, his sentence was reduced to six years and he could be released on parole after serving half of it.
Garcia blamed the equality minister Irene Montero for her situation and said she felt “betrayed” by the government. “She sent me to hell,” Garcia told The Telegraph. “She has given rapists a gift.”
EUROVISION REJECTS AUDIENCE ADDRESS BY ZELENSKYY
The Eurovision Song Contest, the annual celebration of pop music and cultural diversity across Europe and beyond, has turned down a request from Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to address the audience in a video message during the grand final on Saturday.
Zelenskyy, who has been leading his country’s resistance against Russian aggression, wanted to express his gratitude to the international community for its support and solidarity, as well as to cheer on Ukraine’s performers in the contest.
However, the European Broadcasting Union (EBU), which organizes Eurovision, said that allowing Zelenskyy to speak would violate “the nonpolitical nature of the event” and its rules.
“Zelenskyy’s request to address the audience at the Eurovision Song Contest, whilst made with laudable intentions, regrettably cannot be granted by the EBU management as it would be against the rules of the event,” the EBU said in a statement.
The EBU added that it would instead showcase Ukraine’s culture and music through various segments during the show, including a performance by last year’s Eurovision winner, Kalush Orchestra, and other Ukrainian artists.
“We believe that this is the best way to reflect and celebrate Ukraine’s Eurovision Song Contest win and show we are united by music during these hard times,” the EBU said.
HOMICIDE RATE TANKS IN EL SALVADOR
El Salvador, once known as one of the most violent countries in the world, has marked a significant reduction in homicides.
According to President Nayib Bukele, the Central American nation has not registered any murders since May 6, 2022, when it recorded its last homicide.
However, some data was not included in the measure, including gang murders.
The Salvadoran government credits its Territorial Control Plan, a security strategy launched in June 2019 by President Nayib Bukele, for the drastic reduction in violence and crime.
In 2022, El Salvador’s homicide rate dropped to 7.8 homicides per 100,000 inhabitants, down from a shocking 18.2 per 100,000 people in 2015.
The latest plan to crackdown on crime involves deploying thousands of police and military personnel to crack down on gangs, seizing illegal weapons and drugs, improving prison conditions and rehabilitation programs, and investing in social and economic development in vulnerable communities.
Bukele, who took office on June 1, 2019, has also declared a state of emergency that allows authorities to arrest suspected gang members without a warrant and isolate them in prisons.
PROPOSAL TO BAN GENDER SURGERY ON KIDS IN POLAND
A Polish conservative group known for opposing gender ideology has drafted a bill that would ban gender reassignment surgeries for minors.
The Ordo Iuris Institute, which has close ties to the ruling Law and Justice party, said on Monday that it had prepared a legislative proposal that would protect children from “irreversible interference” in their bodies and identities.
The bill would prohibit any medical procedures or treatments aimed at changing the sex characteristics or gender identity of people under 18 years of age, except for cases of congenital disorders of sex development.
It would also ban any psychological or educational interventions that would encourage children to identify with a gender different from their biological sex.
The group said that such interventions violate children’s rights and expose them to serious physical and mental harm.
On Twitter, Ordo Iuris leader Jerzy Kwaśniewski defended his organization’s proposal saying that gender reassignment amounts to the mutilation of children.
"It's time to stop mutilating children. It's time to ban the chemical castration of children. We've had enough of child tragedies that are the result of children being brainwashed into gender and then wanting to return to normality when it's too late, when their bodies have already been mutilated and their hormonal balance has been disrupted ," he tweeted.
TOM HANKS SLAMS PUBLISHERS FOR WOKE CENSORSHIP
Actor and author Tom Hanks has expressed his opposition to the censorship of old books by his publisher Penguin Random House, who has recently updated some classic works by Roald Dahl and PG Wodehouse to remove potentially offensive language.
Hanks, who has just released his first novel titled The Making of Another Major Motion Picture Masterpiece: A Novel, told the BBC that he was against reading any book that says “abridged due to modern sensitivities”.
“I’m of the opinion that we’re all grown-ups here. Let’s have faith in our own sensibilities as opposed to having somebody decide what we may or may not be offended by,” Hanks said. “Let me decide what I am offended by and what I’m not offended by.”
Penguin Random House, one of the world’s largest publishing houses, has been accused of “woke censorship” by some critics for altering the works of some of its authors to make them more suitable for contemporary audiences.
The publisher has revised some of Dahl’s books, such as Charlie and the Chocolate Factory and The Witches, to remove racial slurs and stereotypes. It has also changed some of Wodehouse’s novels, such as The Code of the Woosters and Right Ho, Jeeves, to replace terms that could be seen as derogatory or insensitive.
