THE WORLD Madrid

Madrid

Updated Saturday, March 2, 2024-18:49

Four weeks held in Turkey after

an alleged accident of which they do not know most of the details

.

The trip that six Spanish hunters undertook at the end of January has turned into a nightmare.

Although they should have returned on February 4, for 20 days they have been held in a hotel in Istanbul with a ban on leaving the country and the obligation to report to the police station every Sunday.

The events that motivated the action against them occurred on February 3, the day before their return.

That day, a Turkish citizen reported having suffered injuries when he was about two kilometers from the area where the hunters' hunt was taking place.

This was interrupted by the arrival of police officers who took them to a barracks and made them hand over their weapons.

In conversation with EL MUNDO, one of the hunters, Francisco López, explains that two subsequent police reports maintain

"that it is impossible that from our position we were responsible for the alleged shooting

. "

According to his account, the complainant claimed a "disproportionate" amount despite having spent only four days in a hospital and with a wound, he insists, whose origin has not been confirmed.

"He had a small wound on his head from a graze," the Spanish hunter details about the man who reported them.

They met him last Wednesday when, after reaching an agreement with his family and in the presence of lawyers, they gave him

a bank check for "a very important amount."

However, despite the payment of this compensation and the consequent withdrawal of the lawsuit against them, the Prosecutor's Office has not closed the case.

Previously they had also offered the judge to pay bail in case they were considered civilly responsible for that accident of which they distrusted.

"The court was dragging its feet when it came to setting said bail: first it was going to be on Tuesday the 20th, then the 21st, and then it was set for the following week, until on the 24th it was denied without any justification," he laments. Francisco.

With the compensation paid and without being able to deposit that deposit, the six hunters denounce that "the situation is unsustainable for morality and the economy."

Although the Spanish embassy in Turkey has assisted them "with all the means at their disposal," they criticize that "neither the Spanish Government nor the Turkish authorities are doing anything to resolve this painful situation."

Francisco López trusts that the payment of compensation will eventually lead to the lifting of the precautionary measures against them.

But everything that happened makes him distrustful.

"We are devastated, for our families and for our jobs,"

he concludes.