Moroccan Yassine Kanjaa, who murdered sacristan Diego Valencia in the city of Algeciras, Spain, during an attack in 2023, was acquitted this week of charges of murder, attempted murder and terrorism after a local court concluded that he was not responsible for “psychiatric disorder”. Even so, the court ordered his hospitalization for up to 30 years in a penitentiary psychiatric center, as reported this Friday (28) by the newspaper The Country.
According to the vehicle, the sentence, announced by the Audiencia Nacional, concluded that Kanjaa suffered, at the time of the attack, an “acute psychotic condition of a schizophrenic type”. For the court, this state nullified his “ability to understand what he was doing and to control his actions”. Therefore, the magistrates applied an acquittal due to non-imputability – that is, they recognized that he committed the facts, but could not be criminally convicted. Instead of a prison sentence, a security measure was imposed, long-term hospitalization in a penitentiary psychiatric hospital.
According to the The Countrythe main discussion of the trial was whether the attack had been motivated by Islamic radicalization or whether it was a direct consequence of the defendant’s “mental illness”. The court decided on the second hypothesis. The magistrates stated that the defendant presented “delusions of religious and messianic content”, “loss of contact with reality” and “inability to control impulses”.
According to the newspaper, testimonies and security footage showed that Kanjaa first attacked Father Antonio Sánchez Lucena inside the San Isidro church and then killed sacristan Diego Valencia in the La Palma parish using a machete. The Audiencia Nacional recognized these crimes, but concluded that the aggressor “was not capable of being criminally responsible for them”.
During the trial Kanjaa declared that he considered himself “a messenger of Allah”, said he intended to “cut off the heads” of priests and stated that churches should “become mosques”. The prosecution argues that these statements show minimal awareness of their actions and indicate jihadist motivation, but the majority of judges rejected this thesis.
The Spanish Public Prosecutor’s Office had requested 50 years in prison against Kanjaa for terrorism. However, the court considered that there was no “serious alteration of public peace” nor “a state of terror among the population”, requirements required by the Spanish Penal Code to characterize terrorism.
Still according to the The Countrythe 30-year hospitalization was justified because Kanjaa “remains delusional”, “does not show regret” and is considered dangerous if he returns to society. He will only be able to leave the establishment where he will be admitted with express authorization from the court.
The sentence also determined compensation: 150,000 euros for the widow of sacristan Diego Valencia, 50,000 euros for each of his children, as well as additional payments to the other victims and family members, according to the local press.
The family of sacristan Diego Valencia will appeal the decision. The prosecution claims that the decision minimizes the ideological component of the attack and could set precedents for violent crimes to no longer be classified as terrorism through psychiatric evaluations.
