The Euro-Arab Foundation has taken an in-depth look at Operation Escribano, considered a milestone in the fight against terrorism in Spanish prisons, with a publication that offers an exhaustive analysis of this complex police operation, which is the first conviction for terrorism in the Spanish prison context since 2008 and the first after the reform of the crime of terrorism in 2015. The authors of this analysis, published in a new issue in the Cuadernos de la Euroárabe collection, were: Daniel F. Pérez-García, researcher and head of projects in the area of prevention of radicalisation and violent extremism at the Euro-Arab Foundation, expert in the EU Knowledge Hub on Prevention of Radicalisation of the European Commission, where the Euro-Arab Foundation actively participates; Salvador Berdún Carrión, Director of the Studies Department of the Agrupación de Cuerpos de Ayudantes de Instituciones Penitenciarias and Doctor in Criminology; and Javier Ruipérez Canales, Director of the Research and Projects Department of the Euro-Arab Foundation, Doctor in Social Sciences and Director of Strategic Communication of the EU Knowledge Hub.
Analysis of Operation Escribano and prospects for prevention
On 12 February 2024, the 4th Section of the Criminal Division of the National Court issued Sentence number 4/2024, in which it sentenced two inmates to seven years and six months in prison. The defendants, who were already serving sentences for belonging to a terrorist organisation, were tried within the framework of what is known as Operation Escribano, which succeeded in dismantling an entire radicalising structure in Spanish prisons and stands as the largest investigation carried out in Europe into the radicalisation of the Daesh terrorist organisation in prisons. The review of judicial, legislative, academic and strategic documentation in the Euro-Arab publication has been complemented with interviews with the sources of the Guardia Civil police investigation and presents the analysis of the radical networks dismantled in this operation.
The main objective of the analysis is to extract good practices in order to optimise prevention strategies within the prison environment. The recommendations include respect for the guarantee of human rights in judicial processes, in prison treatment and in the assessment of the risk of radicalisation, and the promotion of programmes for the rehabilitation of violent extremism and social and functional reintegration in democratic societies.
The publication (in Spanish) can be downloaded from the Euro-Arab Foundation’s website: https://fundea.org/cuaderno-euroarabe-radicalizacion-en-prisiones/
