Manuel Hidalgo carries the weight of having buried his young son – an almost insupportable weight for most. But this burden is increased by the seeming injustice behind the Spanish Judicial System.

On the night of the 2nd of July, 2008 his young son and two other lads died in a car crash near Huétor Santillán – they were all passengers and minors. The young man behind the wheel, although seriously injured, survived. He stood before a judge and was found guilty of dangerous driving and manslaughter. The driver had no insurance and had only recently obtained a valid driving licence. However, he had been speeding, doing 120 kph on a road that had a limit of 40 kph on that particular stretch.

The driver never ended up going to prison, thanks to a very controversial, partial pardon. The father, beside himself with rage and a sense of betrayal is trying to get the pardon overturned – something that has never been done before as pardon are considered irrevocable.

Apart from the compensation that the driver has to pay, he was also fined… 750 euros. Now this quantity is important because the father was recently fined 301 euros for participating in a demonstration in front of the provincial office of the Junta de Andalucia in Granada. He denies this.

“They fine me 300 euros for walking along the street and yet fine the man who killed my son and two other young lads only 750 euros!,” he emphasised with bitter irony, adding, “It’s disgusting!”

Many would agree with him, no doubt.

(News: Granada, Andalucia)