Navarra court to release ‘La Manada’ members on bail

A court in Navarra has granted bail to the five young men who were each sentenced to nine years in prison for sexually abusing a young woman during Pamplona’s San Fermín festival in 2016, according to digital newspaper ‘El Confidencial’.

Known as ‘La Manada’ (The wolf-pack), the group of men have been granted bail of 6,000 euros and will be released while awaiting the court’s final ruling. The case caused controversy in April when the men were found guilty of sexual abuse rather than rape.

The nine-year prison sentence fell far short of the 22 years demanded by the prosecution. While the judges agreed that the woman had not given her consent, they also said there had been no violence or intimidation, which is necessary for a rape conviction under Spanish law.

The sentence led to a wave of protests all over Spain. On consecutive days in different cities crowds of outraged protestors gathered, chanting slogans, such as “No means no”, “I believe you” and “They don’t believe us, unless they kill us” – in reference to the case of a Madrid teenager who was killed when fighting off a man during a sexual assault.