Why do left-wing political parties in Spain find it so difficult to apply coercive measures with serial killers, who are best off in prison?
Marta Calvo Burón25 years old, went on the evening of November 7, 2019 to Manuel, a municipality located in the Ribera Alta region, in the province of Valencia. She had met a stranger, apparently through a dating website. The murderer’s name was Jorge Ignacio Palma and he was of Colombian origin. When Marta arrived at the municipality, she had the prudence to send her mother the location. That was the last news we had of her.
After weeks of searching and constant pressure on Jorge Ignacio Palma, he surrendered to the Police and confessed to the murder. He stated in his statements that Marta died while they were having a sexual encounter where he introduced high-purity cocaine into her body (a very dangerous practice, especially for those who introduce said drug into their body, while carrying out the act of penetration), that after said mishap occurred, he felt panicked and dismembered her, placing the remains in garbage bags that he spread in different nearby places and in areas near the Albaida River. His body was never found.
The trial ended up being held in 2022, that is, three years later. It was reached without Jorge’s confession about the location of Marta’s body, but with the police certainty that they were facing a serial killer, the investigation continued and it was discovered that with this sexual practice of introducing cocaine through the female genital organ and through the anus, he had already killed two women previously and tried to do so with another (the sources are not completely sure about the number) six or eight women. The other two deceased were the Brazilian Arline Ramos (32 years old) and the Colombian Marcela Vargas (26 years old), both prostitutes, although this information is not relevant.
The sentence of the Provincial Court of Valencia sentenced him to 159 years and 11 months for the triple murder. But in September 2024, the Supreme Court decided to apply article 140.2 of the Penal Code, understanding that with the murder of Marta, her murderer was considered a “multiple murderer” and made the decision to sentence him to a reviewable life sentence.
However, those sentenced to a reviewable life sentence may have penitentiary benefits, given that in the Spanish system, starting at the age of 25, it allows an evaluation board to analyze whether a prisoner after that time can be reinserted. You can even get the third grade for good behavior and a favorable evaluation. With these nuances, we avoid the concept of life imprisonment, which generates so much bad press. But in the case of Marta Calvo Burón, justice and politicians have found themselves with a combative mother who wants these benefits to be withdrawn from all those criminals who, sentenced to a reviewable life sentence and others, do not provide the body.
One of the most terrifying misfortunes suffered by families where one of their members disappears, also knowing that they have been murdered, is that of not being able to close the mourning until they find the body and thus be able to bury it in a specific place to mourn their loss. In our country we have the case of Marta del Castillo, or that of Marta Calvo, among others.
For this reason, Marta Calvo’s mother, Marisol Burón, has asked the justice system to vote in favor of this petition, that murderers sentenced to a reviewable life sentence cannot obtain prison benefits as long as they do not hand over the body of their victims.
A few days ago, this proposal was voted on in the Congress of Deputies in Spain. The political parties: PP, VOX and UPN (Unión del Pueblo Navarro), voted in favor; these parties agreed to aggravate the penalty if the body was not delivered; while PSOE, Sumar, PNV, ERC, Junts and EH Bildu voted against considering that said request was populist.
Undoubtedly, when political parties distance themselves from their people, they do not fully understand the deep pain of losing a loved one and not even knowing where they are.
Now that international law is mentioned so much to be wielded from Europe against the war in Iran, while there they hang from cranes, every day, in retaliation by the Iranian regime, why are the human rights of the relatives who are not able to close their mourning with dignity not mentioned?
So much interest within the law of historical memory to search for remains (of course, only from one side) of a painful conflict that occurred more than 90 years ago, I am referring to the Civil War, there is little interest on the part of the ruling left in Spain to promote punishment for those who do not respect the pain of the relatives of their murdered women.
The Spanish Constitution prioritizes reintegration, agree. But it also prioritizes the right to compliance with Human Rights. A family that cannot close the mourning, because the murderers do not hand over the body, is an ignominious strategy. Murderers, thus, can be laughing at the relatives of their victims throughout their lives. It’s like giving control of the pain they inflict every day on the relatives of the person they murdered. It is serving them on a tray every morning at breakfast, the broken hearts of close relatives so that they continue to squeeze them. With someone who dismembers a corpse and makes the remains disappear, there should be no mercy, only compassion. May they live to regret what they did, without the possibility of reviewable freedom in some cases. This absolutely does not contravene any international law, not even the Spanish Constitution.
What contravenes International Law is that murderers, whether States or individuals, can continue to mark the course of history with their crimes, whether against peoples or individual people.
Originally published at LaDamadeElche.com
