The Generalitat has agreed to compensate the families of the two rural agents murdered in 2017 in Aspa (Lleida) with 617,473 euros by an unlicensed hunter who shot them when they approached him to carry out an inspection. As reported by the newspaper Segre and confirmed to EFE by the families’ lawyer, Pau Simarro, the Generalitat has approved a decree-law that obliges it to compensate rural agents who suffer damages as a result of their work. As the families demanded, the Generalitat has finally agreed to compensate the families of the two murdered rural agents, Xavier Ribes and David Iglesias, with 617,473 euros.
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The Department of Interior and Public Security has issued a resolution in which it “grants the request for payment of compensation based on the principle of indemnity” which was requested by the families’ lawyer. The amount with which the Generalitat will now compensate the families of the murdered Rural Agents corresponds to the remaining amount of the compensation set by the Lleida Court for the convicted person. Specifically, the court set his civil liability at 1,077,473 euros for the damages caused to the families. Part of the compensation, 300,000 euros, was assumed by the convicted person’s insurer, who declared insolvency, and the rest, 777,473 euros, was claimed from the Generalitat, considering that it was responsible for not having provided the agents with protective equipment. Of that money, the Generalitat agreed to pay 160,000 euros, leaving 617,473 pending.
Xavier Ribes and David Iglesias were murdered on January 21, 2017, in the Aspa hunting ground, when they approached the hunter Ismael Rodríguez Clemente to carry out a routine inspection and he shot them without them being able to defend themselves. A popular jury unanimously declared him guilty and the Lleida Court sentenced him to 45 years in prison, 22 years for each murder with treachery and one for illegal possession of weapons. For the victims’ families, the deaths “were a consequence of the lack of security and protection measures provided by the department in the exercise of its functions,” and they alleged an “omission in terms of occupational risks.” After the criminal proceedings concluded, they filed a Patrimonial Claim against the Generalitat.
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