The Vinícius case has experienced another chapter in the courts of Valencia. The judge handling the case has taken a statement from the third defendant for an alleged hate crime, an 18-year-old who was absent for personal reasons from the previous round of testimony. The hearing has served for the judge to inform the defense lawyers, the RFEF, LaLiga and Real Madrid that in this procedure only what happened in the 72nd minute of the match between Valencia and Real Madrid will be investigated.
The lawyers for LaLiga and Real Madrid wanted to extend the investigation to everything that happened that afternoon at Mestalla, that is, from the arrival of the bus until the Madrid expedition left the stadium. But the judge has urged them to open another procedure for such incidents, given that the investigation opened by her only concerns what happened from when Cömert commits a foul for hitting the ball that was in play with another ball until Vinícius points his finger at people concrete in the Animation Grada.
The judge urges the lawyers of LaLiga and Real Madrid to open another process if they want what happened at the arrival of the buses to be investigated
“There is not a single insult from my client, he did not say anything to Vinícius. He limited himself to reacting to a constant provocation from Vinícius throughout the game, which is notorious. An 18-year-old boy had a spontaneous reaction in a game of maximum rivalry, a two-second gesture, ”defense lawyer Manuel Izquierdo explained when leaving the courts, adding: “Obviously I cannot think that it is a hate crime for racism (…) If Vinícius’s gestures had been made, for example, by Courtois, Courtois would have been insulted. We don’t talk about racism here.”
My client had a spontaneous reaction of two seconds in a match of maximum rivalry, he limited himself to reacting to a constant provocation from Vinícius “
Real Madrid, in recent weeks, has appeared in the case as an “offended” party. The white club’s lawyers, in fact, were the ones who, after appearing in person, informed the judge that Vinicíus would not testify on the initially scheduled date because he was on vacation. Thus, Real Madrid has joined LaLiga and the RFEF. The presence of Real Madrid in this case and not in others also linked to the figure of Vinícius (8 complaints according to Javier Tebas) or what happened in the run-up to the Real Madrid-Barcelona basketball game draws the attention of the lawyers for the young man accused of a hate crime.
“Real Madrid now appears as the offended party, not on behalf of Vinícius, because they understand that what happened at Mestalla is a problem of racism. The following week there is an act of racism in the Madrid-Barcelona basketball game and not only is Madrid no longer a person, but it does not even make a simple institutional statement. There is a comparative grievance”, asserted Manuel Izquierdo, who was accompanied by the lawyer Ramón Igual.
Real Madrid has recently appeared in the case as an “offended party”
The defense of the three defendants has presented as Try the sequence of images in which Vinicíus is seen making gestures from “A Segunda” addressed to the Animation Grada. For his part, LaLiga and Real Madrid have presented expert evidence of lip reading and gestures. The case is still being investigated by the Valencia judge, who will take a statement from Vinicíus by videoconference on September 28. The Brazilian striker had an appointment with the judge on June 27, but he decided not to park his vacation in Miami and hence his statement as a witness was extended. It must be remembered that Vinícius is not part of this cause, since he has not joined it as a victim. For the lawyer Manuel Izquierdo: “If he did not testify to Vinícius, it is because he cares little about this story. He’s gotten a little out of hand. The problem of racism is very big and Vinicíus gives this specific case the transcendence it has, which is zero.