In Catalonia, the Barcelona court has decided to reopen the case of the mosque arson in Piera, which had previously been closed. The reason was a recent report from the Mossos d’Esquadra, which provided new information about the possible circumstances of the incident. The event took place in July of last year, when a fire destroyed the building of the new mosque before its official opening. According to police, the fire may have been intentional, but the court in Igualada initially closed the investigation, citing insufficient grounds to continue the case.
After the first unsuccessful attempt to have the case reviewed, representatives of Comunidad Islámica Piera-Masjid Arrahmnan filed a second appeal. Now, thanks to the additional police report, the case has regained attention. As noted by the local press, a judge from the Seventh Criminal Section of the Audiencia de Barcelona has instructed the Mossos d’Esquadra to analyze the effectiveness of methods for identifying possible suspects. To do this, police will request lists from mobile operators of devices present in the area of the mosque at around 3:36 a.m. on July 12—the time when the fire occurred.
Investigation details
Further decisions in the case will be made by the investigative judge. The lawyer for Comunidad Islámica, Benet Salellas, insisted on transferring the investigation to the Central Office for Hate Crimes and Discrimination of the Mossos d’Esquadra. However, the court denied this request, stating that the current police unit is no less effective in identifying those responsible. Nevertheless, the very fact that the investigation has been reopened is an important step for the community, which was constructing the mosque and did not have time to open it before the incident.
Reaction and consequences
After the fire, the mosque’s organizers raised over 60,000 euros for the restoration of the building. The head of the Catalan Department of Internal Affairs, Núria Parlón, stated that all evidence points to the arson being deliberate, which may be classified as a hate crime. In response to the incident, the three largest Muslim federations in Catalonia issued a joint statement condemning the attack as an attempt to disrupt social harmony and unity.
