A PERUVIAN expat has called in lawyers over claims he was beaten up by police and left in hospital with a ruptured bladder.
In the alarming alleged attack, Diego Armando Torres, insists he was punched and kicked by six Guardia Civil agents on a Friday night.
Even more shocking, he claims he was tied up and a plastic bag was put over his head nearly suffocating him.
“I actually feared for my life, particularly when one officer told me ‘you’re going to die’,” he told the Olive Press last week.
The incident happened when he and a friend were heading home to Sabinillas at 9:15pm, on June 16.
Diego, 37, who arrived in Spain to work as a builder two months ago, had been out for some drinks in nearby Estepona.
“We were pulled over at a motorway police check just before arriving in Sabinillas,” he explained.
“They stopped us and asked my mate to step out of the car. I initially stayed in the passenger’s seat, but then got out to ask what was going on.
“The agents told me to be quiet and not to speak, but I asked again if everything was okay.
“The police are now saying that I used force and kicked one of them, but this is not true.
“Suddenly they snapped and forced me to the ground and I was handcuffed and taken to a police car.”
His mate, from Bolivia, who wants to remain anonymous, confirmed the heavy-handed arrest.
“But when I dared ask a policeman why they were doing it, he replied; ‘do you also want to get hit?’
“Diego was put in a car and that was the last time I saw him that day,” explained his friend, who is also a builder.
The victim claims he was then taken to the Guardia Civil barracks in Manilva where he was grilled on what he was doing in Spain.
“I was very scared and just wanted to call someone,” he said. “Eventually they agreed but as I left my phone in the car I couldn’t remember any numbers apart from my brother’s, who lives in Norway, and they refused to call a foreign number.”
It was then that a couple of the officers started slapping him in the face telling him to ‘shut up’.
“I remember there were up to six of them taking turns to slap me,” he insisted.
“After a while they took me back to the car. I was terrified and I started screaming for help. Then, one of the officers punched me in the face through the open window, cutting open my left eyebrow.”
At this point the attack got far more sinister, he claims, after the police took him back to a different smaller and darker room at the station.
“They tied my ankles and wrists together, covered my head with a plastic bag and started punching and kicking me on the stomach,” he claims.
“When I was about to asphyxiate, they would remove the bag then put it back on. They did this many times.
“An officer also stepped on my head, causing me injuries and bruises. They kicked and punched me in the stomach until I passed out from the pain.
“The worst ones were, I estimate, in their 30s and 40s, while two younger agents, probably in their 20s, did not do anything and actually tried to comfort me.”
After the brutal assault, he was taken to the Policia Local Station in Estepona, where he was put in a cell and fell asleep, but woke up around 3am with agonising stomach pain.
Despite begging to go to hospital it wasn’t until 9.20am that three Guardia agents returned and took him to a GP in Estepona, where the doctor told the officers he had to be taken to hospital urgently.
He was taken to Marbella’s Costa del Sol Hospital, where he underwent emergency surgery on a ‘ruptured bladder’.
He also ‘presented bruises on the head and face’ according to the official medical report seen by the Olive Press.
Diego has since taken legal advice and is currently waiting to hear back from a public defender to file an official complaint.
A Guardia Civil official report claims Diego was arrested for kicking one of the agents, which he completely denies.
Leading Marbella lawyer Antonio Flores, described the case as ‘an atrocity’.
“If proved, this would be an atrocity. First, these officers should be given a precautionary suspension and then tried for assault and abuse of authority,” he insisted.
A spokesman for Spain’s Ombudsman added: “If he has been beaten up, he needs to file a report and the justice system will do its job.”
A Guardia Civil press officer said: “I don’t know if this is true or not, but it sounds strange to me. I have been a Guardia Civil for 30 years and I have never seen anything like this. It sounds like a science fiction movie. Once he files a complaint, this will go to court and a judge will decide.”
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