35,000 people returned to the streets of Pamplona in Spain for the third day of protests after the men accused of the gang rape of a then 18-year-old woman were convicted of the lesser crime of sexual assault.
The men, who filmed the assault and named their WhatsApp group, in which they discussed and laughed about the alleged rape, ‘The Pack’, were convicted on Thursday and sentenced to nine years each in prison instead of the 20 years requested by the state prosecutor, CNN reports.
The incident took place at the 2016 running of the bulls festival with the court hearing that the men “pushed” the woman into a hallway and told her to “shut up” before all engaging in sexual activity with her.
One of the men stole the woman’s mobile phone following the attack, leaving her with no way to contact the police or the friend who she had gone to the festival with, The Guardian reports.
As well as the protests, in which many shouted “Yo te creo” (“I believe you”), the case has prompted another #MeToo movement with thousands of women sharing their experiences of abuse on Twitter under the hashtag #cuentalo, Spanish for “tell it”.
The sentence is being appealed by both sides.
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