The local police officers of Seville, on the controversy with the death of the mantero: “We are obliged to prosecute crimes”

The professional union of Municipal Police of Spain has spoken before the criticism received for the death of the mantero Senegalese last Sunday, after jumping into the river to avoid being intercepted by the police. In the issued statement they emphasize the difference between street vending and counterfeits, as well as their duty to “prosecute crimes.”

The police state that the sale of counterfeit productsas in the case of the deceased mantero, “it is an illicit activity classified in the Penal Code in articles 273 and 274, it has nothing to do with street vending, and in no case can it be regulated or enabled, since it is of a crime. “It also entails a criminal sentence imposed by the Administration of Justice.” They continue to point out that street vending, for its part, is an activity regulated in ordinances with the possibility of being carried out legally. Therefore, the police union declares that “it cannot be equalized” and that “neither should criminalize police actions that are aimed at avoiding, pursuing or investigating criminal acts.”

At the end of the writing, they point out that the Local Police of Seville suffers “intentional defamation” when they are accused of racismsince there has never been a conviction for said conduct. They add how worrying it is that these types of accusations come from political leaders who are unaware of how the city works, simply for encouraging citizen discontent for their own benefit. «The worrying thing is not that friends or relatives of a deceased person do it, what is important and worrying is that it is done by political leaders who do not even know how things work in the city of Seville (perhaps they do not even know where it is) with the sole purpose of encourage a citizen community for its political gain.