Terrorist support and defence
PROTEGELES is also working at tackling Internet pages on terrorism support and defence, like pages teaching how to produce home-made explosives and so on. PROTEGELES reports on terrorism contents to the Spanish Police and the Guardia Civil. .
Some spanish legal aspects about crimes linked to terrorism
The Spanish Criminal Code (Capítulo V del Título XXII del libro II) regulates the possession, trafficking and stockpiling of arms and ammunitions. More specifically, articles 563 and 564 state that possession of forbidden arms will be liable to up to 3-year prison penalty and the possession of regulated firearms with no license by up to two-year prison. Furthermore, in Article 566 and followings, it is stated that producing, trading or stockpiling firearms will be punished by up to 5-year prison penalty and that the possession, stockpiling, manufacturing, trade, transportation and providing of explosive, inflammable or incendiary substances or devices will be punished by up to 8-year prison penalty.
Moreover, the Spanish Criminal Code, Articles 571 and followings are consecrated to Terrorism-related crimes. When committed “by people belonging or acting in behalf of an armed organisation which aim is to subvert the Spanish constitutional order or to break public peace”, the Spanish law states that the following crimes will be considered terrorist crimes.
- 1. Havoc or arson. It may be punished by 15-20 years prison penalty apart from the penalty that may be incurred if someone’s life or physical or mental integrity was damaged.
- 2. Crimes injuring people, they may be punished by:
- 1º 20-30 years prison penalty if a person’s death is caused.
- 2º 15-20 years prison penalty if it involves loss of any organ, limb or sense; impotency; sterility; deformity; a very serious mental illness or kidnapping somebody.
- 10-15 year prison penalty when somebody is otherwise injured, illegally arrested or threatened. If the victim is a member of any of the State legal, governmental, military or police bodies, then the penalty will be increased by at least half of the normal penalty.
- 3. Arms possession and stockpiling may be punished by 6-10 year prison penalty.
- 4. Any other offence which is aimed at subverting the constitutional order or breaking the public peace. These offences may be punished by its corresponding penalty as established in the Spanish Criminal Code, increased by at least half of the normal penalty.
Spanish Criminal Law also punishes the financing of armed groups by illegal means, that will be punished with the corresponding penalty to the committed financial crime, increased by the fact of financing an armed group. Furthermore, as established in Article 576, financing armed groups is liable of a crime for collaboration with a terrorist group or organisation.
Finally, Spanish Criminal Law punishes the collaboration with an armed group by 5-20 years term prison penalty. Collaboration with an armed terrorist group is defined as follows: “keeping watch on people, property or premises; building, conditioning, transferring or using lodgings or storehouses; concealing or transporting people linked to any armed and/or terrorists groups or organisations; organising or assisting in any way armed groups’ training activities and, generally speaking, economic or any other kind of collaboration, help or mediation on any of the activities of armed and/or terrorists groups or organisations.” The committing of preparatory acts (provoking, conspiring and fostering terrorist acts) is also included on the Spanish Criminal Code and it is punished with the penalty awarded to the crime they were preparing or conspiring on reduced by one or two grades.
