MADRID: Authorities in the northwest of Spain requested time to fully investigate the death of a 24-year-old man who triggered extensive criticism after the victim’s friends claimed that he was targeted and beaten to become gay.
LGBTQ activists called for protests in dozens of cities in Spain then on Monday and members of the Spanish left-wing cabinet had condemned the death of Samuel Luiz during the early hours of Saturday as a racial crime.
The police are reviewing supervision cameras and questioning more than a dozen suspects and witnesses who are outside the nightclub in the city of Coruna when crime occurred, the government delegation in the Northwest Galicia region, said Monday.
Luiz’s friends told El Mundo Spanish newspaper that the suspects began to attack Luiz, who were making a video call with a friend at the time, because they believed he tried to record it.
The attackers used the condescending word for homosexuals, according to the version of the events of friends.
“We are at the initial stage, only an investigation will tell us if it is a homophobic crime or not,” delegation, Jose Night, told reporters.
He called for “caution” in describing events.
There is no arrest that has been made so far, said Nonones.
Death comes in the midst of a surge in attacks on LGBTQ people.
Activist group claims that official statistics only capture a small portion of the problem because many incidents are not reported.
The Minister of Social Rights Ire Belarra was criticized by many people on social media because it was too fast in condemning Luiz’s death as a “racial crime” when he sent a tweet on Sunday with condolences to relatives and friends.
“We want a free country from violence where everyone feels free to be who they are,” Belarra tweeted.