A Granada law court has found the administrator of AMA Desokupa guilty of coercion for preventing the delivery of food-delivery to squatters.
The company specialises in evicting squatters from dwellings using several methods but this particular one appears to have incurred judicial retribution. The administrator has been ordered to pay a 1-month fine with a daily rate of seven euros (just over 200 euros).
The incident took place on Calle Azacayas in the centre of the city of Granada on the 20th of January, after the company boss ordered her 10 burly employees to block access to the dwelling so that food could not be brought in. This food blockade lasted for about 15 hours.
Two of the company’s employees were acquitted as one was not present and the other was “simply following instructions from his superiors.”
“It can be considered a minor offence of coercion for preventing the provision of food to the residents of the dwelling, as such conduct is not protected by any right of the [legal] owner…” with the judge going on to say, “It is reflected in the police report, that AMA employees prevented the delivery of food in a basket. It is stated that this was done because the objects contained in the basket, specifically beer cans, were thrown at those on the pavement and at police officers…” concluding with, “Subsequent activity does not undermine the nature of the delivered items: food, which is necessary for those living in a dwelling, even if they are later misused.”
For their part, the squatters pointed out that the building operated as a self-managed social centre, La Madriguera; a space where residents participated and hosted a variety of cultural activities. They emphasise that these types of centres are essential to the city’s community life, spaces that are being deprived as a direct result of real estate speculation, which, they claim, is driving their inhabitants out of urban centres.
(News: City & Metropolitan Area, Granada, Andalucia)
Keywords: Squatters, Squatter-Eviction Company, Denied Food, Guilty of Coercion
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