Alex Trelinski
A 66-year-old right-wing gun enthusiast from Catalunya has been jailed for seven-and-a-half years after making threats to kill Prime Minister, Pedro Sanchez.
The National Court handed down the sentence to Manuel Murillo, a security guard from Terrassa, after he was convicted at his trial in March.
He was arrested in 2018 after police heard about messages he shared with a right-wing, nationalist WhatsApp group.
Murillo posted that he was angry about plans by the Sanchez government to exhume fascist dictator, General Franco, from his tomb at the Valley of the Fallen mausoleum outside Madrid.
He said his comments were written while drunk but the National Court dismissed his argument in deciding upon his sentence.
He was given two years and six months for proposing the killing of Sanchez and five years for the illegal possession of weapons.
Murillo has also been barred from owning or carrying any weapons for eight years, once he’s freed from prison.
A police raid on his Terrassa home found a collection of prohibited weapons, many of which had been modified, including a Cetme military rifle.
The three National Court judges said Murillo was looking to ‘produce a change in the Spanish political situation by causing the death of the Prime Minister and calling for assistance in carrying it out’.
The judges added that there was never ‘a hatched assassination plot but the huge arsenal found in his home increased the level of danger’.
One of Murillo’s messages said: “I am a sniper and with a precise shot, Sanchez dies before he completely sinks Spain. There would be no need for wars.”
READ MORE:
- Franco fan who plotted to kill Spain’s PM over exhumation of dictator goes on trial in Barcelona
- As Spain’s General Election looms, Heather Galloway recalls her day watching Franco be exhumed from his Madrid tomb
- OPINION: Franco’s last day in the spotlight let Spain breathe clearly again
