Spanish police question 13 people involved in the homophobic murder of Samuel Luiz Muñiz

Authorities in northwestern Spain are asking for time to fully investigate the murder of a 24 year old which led to widespread conviction after friends of the victim claimed he was attacked and beaten to death to be homosexual.

Activists from the LGBTQ collective called for protests in dozens of cities across Spain for Monday, and members of the left-wing Spanish cabinet condemned the death of Samuel Luiz Muñiz in the early hours of Saturday as a hate crime.

Police check surveillance cameras and question more than a dozen suspects and witnesses who were in front of a nightclub in the city of La Coruña at the time of the crime, the government delegate for the northwestern region of Galicia said on Monday.

As reported by the agency EFE, 13 people said at the Lonzas National Police Station. Initially, it was reported that these people had been detained, but police denied this on Monday morning and clarified that it was questioning..

Most of them are adults and the National Police have managed to identify them thanks to cell phones and testimonies. Those who are involved they are queried separately to see if the different versions match.

Luiz’s friends told the Spanish newspaper The world that the suspects started attacking Luiz, who was on a video call with a friend at the time, because they thought he was trying to tape them. The attackers used a pejorative word for homosexuals, according to the version of the friends.

“We are in the initial phase, only the investigation will tell us whether it was a homophobic crime or not,” government delegate José Minones told reporters. He asked for “caution” in the representation of the facts.

Death comes amid spike in attacks on LGBTQ people. Activist groups say official statistics only capture part of the problem as many incidents go unreported.

The investigation into the beating, which occurred on Avenida de Buenos Aires in La Coruña on Saturday after 3 a.m., continues under the secrecy of the summary decreed by the court. Throughout the weekend, social networks filled with posts under the hashtag #JusticeForSamuel and on Monday, cities in Galicia and Spain will experience demonstrations of rejection of the crime, given the possibility that it is a homophobic attack.

Other sectors, Social Rights Minister Ione Belarra has been criticized on social media for condemning Luiz’s death as a “hate crime” when she tweeted her condolences to the family on Sunday and friends of the victim. “We want a country free from violence where everyone feels free to be who they are,” Belarra tweeted.

The deputy government delegate in A Coruña, María Rivas, assured on Monday that the beatings appear to be “a specific event” and could not confirm that it is an assault motivated by homophobia. “At no time can we say that a situation is unfolding other than it is a specific event, which is not associated with any other situation”, explained Rivas after meeting the mayor of La Coruña. , Inés Rey, to analyze the investigations into the event.

The mayor, for his part, made himself available to the relatives of the victim. “We both want to pass on our support and affection to Samuel’s family,” he said. In this regard, he condemned “any type of violence” and above all “this brutal and irrational aggression which for no reason would put an end to Samuel’s life”.

After the meeting, the two participated in a rally in Plaza de María Pita, in which around 100 people observed a minute of silence to reject the assault.

Another rally was also held in Culleredo to reject Samuel’s murder, while LGTBI groups called for demonstrations this afternoon in different Galician municipalities.

(With information from AP and EFE)

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