Two police officers convicted of taking a woman to the station after she called them “rude”

The Tribunal de Corts has convicted two police officers of unlawful detention after they took a woman to the police station who had called them “rude” and who, according to statements made during the trial, had hindered their intervention.

The incident took place in December 2020 during an operation involving the court-ordered seizure of a vehicle in a private car park in Andorra la Vella.

Each officer received a suspended prison sentence of 19 and a half months and a one-year suspension from duty, according to RTVA. Both were acquitted of the charge of degrading treatment.

Officers argued they were completing an administrative procedure

During the trial, the officers maintained that the woman was not under arrest and that they had taken her to police premises to complete the paperwork for a minor criminal infraction. In their account, they were carrying out an administrative procedure.

The defendants also said they had followed the protocols and training in place at the time. They argued that they were unaware their actions could constitute a deprivation of liberty.

One of the officers acknowledged in court that the complainant had not committed a criminal offence and explained that she had neither been informed of her rights nor handcuffed.

According to that officer’s testimony, the woman spent approximately half an hour in administrative offices while the paperwork for the infraction was completed.

Court concludes the transfer amounted to unlawful detention

The court concluded that the officers’ actions constituted unlawful detention, despite their arguments about the purpose of the transfer and the circumstances in which it took place.

The ruling distinguishes this deprivation of liberty from the other charge the officers faced: the Tribunal de Corts found no degrading treatment during the incident and acquitted both officers of that offence.