We kicked squatters out of our flat… however then police arrested us
- Siarhei and Aleh Pakrouski face jail for ‘defending their property’ in Barcelona
- Squatters moved in on December 31 and refused to depart after 24 hours
- The brothers have criticised Spain’s property legal guidelines that make it exhausting to evict
Two brothers are livid after they kicked squatters out of their £170,000 flat however had been later arrested by police who helped the trespassers transfer again in.
Siarhei and Aleh Pakrouski now face jail for ‘defending their property’ within the El Raval neighbourhood, Barcelona.
The brothers declare they had been attacked on their stairwell by the squatters, who had been armed with knives, simply 24 hours later.
Siarhei, 29, and Aleh, 35, known as the police and the squatters vowed to depart the next day.
After the altercation, which left Aleh with a small gash on his face and a damaged nostril, they had been suggested to go to the police station to press fees.
Two brothers (pictured) are livid after they kicked squatters out of their £170,000 flat however had been later arrested by police who helped the trespassers transfer again in
The alleged squatters (pictured) moved into their flat on December 31 and the brothers declare they had been attacked on their stairwell by the group, who had been armed with knives
The altercation on the stairwell left Aleh with a small gash on his face and a damaged nostril
By this time, the squatters had managed to switch the entrance door with a door from the toilet, making the house owners’ keys futile.
One week later, on January 15, when the squatters had been out, the brothers seized the chance and repossessed their residence.
A video obtained by MailOnline reveals cops getting into the flat regardless of being knowledgeable by the brothers that they’re the property’s house owners.
Siarhei and Aleh had been subsequently arrested.
In the six-minute clip, an officer from Catalonia’s Mossos d’Esquadra pressure tells the pair: ‘We are getting into as a result of that is the residence of different folks.
‘It is not your residence. We have been called because a man and a pregnant woman live here.
‘Even though you may be the owners of the property, this is the home of those who have occupied it’.
The unnamed officer then tells them that they ‘will be punished’ in the event that they use the video of their arrest.
The pair had been then locked up in a jail cell for 2 days – throughout which era a second residence which the brothers personal was allegedly robbed by the squatters, who had entry to spare keys within the authentic residence they took over.
It comes after MailOnline final 12 months revealed how legal gangs of squatters are concentrating on second houses of British folks in Spain, with some even utilizing youngsters as ‘props’ to try to protect themselves from eviction.
Article 47 of the Spanish Constitution states that ‘all Spaniards have the precise to take pleasure in first rate and sufficient housing’ – a sentiment which has brought on a authorized loophole, making it extraordinarily troublesome for householders to take away squatters who’ve entered their properties.
Under Spanish legislation, squatters who’ve occupied a house for greater than 48 hours and are deemed to haven’t any different sufficient housing through which to reside can’t be evicted with no court docket order.
This course of takes a mean of 18 months, and may show significantly pricey with plaintiffs having to shell out for authorized illustration and bailiffs.
In the interim, the one approach to take away squatters is to pay squatter elimination companies, a lot of whom cost hundreds of kilos to forcibly evict them.
Police reviews for each Siarhei and Aleh Parouski mentioned they had been arrested for ‘accessing the residence of the sufferer with out their consent, threatening the victims to depart their residence, altering the lock of the door and inflicting harm’, and ‘taking the legislation into their very own fingers’.
The squatters had managed to switch the entrance door with a door from the toilet, making the house owners’ keys futile
Under Spanish legislation, squatters who’ve occupied a house for greater than 48 hours and are deemed to haven’t any different sufficient housing through which to reside can’t be evicted with no court docket order
The brothers have additionally claimed that the police used disproportionate pressure through the arrest, together with placing them at the back of the knees and elbows, choking them and injuring their wrists by tightening their handcuffs.
Documents seen by MailOnline verify that Siarhei, who used to work in finance within the UK and elsewhere, sought medical consideration for scarring and nerve harm allegedly attributable to {the handcuffs}.
Branding Spain’s squatter legal guidelines ‘stupid’, Siarhei, 29, advised MailOnline this week: ‘It still makes me sick to remember sitting inside the police car handcuffed and bleeding, while watching cops help those scumbags carry their things back into our flat.
‘I’m a standard one that is paying a mortgage and needed to work actually exhausting, and I may now find yourself going to jail.’
A supply from the Mossos mentioned that the pair had been solely arrested as a result of they brought on a minor damage by attacking one of many squatters with a hammer, an allegation which the brothers deny, not as a part of a query as to whether or not they owned the property or not.
Likewise, the pressure insisted that disputes over possession of a property are a judicial matter as an alternative of a policing matter, and that who owns the property is of no curiosity to the police.
The brothers are fuming over what they see as preferential remedy given to the ‘okupas’- a colloquial phrase in Spanish for squatter.
During their two-day keep in a police cell, Siarhei and Aleh consider that the squatters made use of a backpack belonging to the brothers that was left behind within the property.
The brothers have additionally claimed that the police used disproportionate pressure through the arrest, together with placing them at the back of the knees and elbows, choking them and injuring their wrists by tightening their handcuffs
The brothers are fuming over what they see as preferential remedy given to the ‘okupas’- a colloquial phrase in Spanish for squatter
The backpack included a set of keys for Siarhei’s property, situated throughout the similar block of flats.
After launch, the duo made their approach to Siarhei’s residence, which they consider was robbed by the group.
According to an official grievance filed with police, objects with a mixed worth of over €800 had been lacking from the residence, together with €335 in money, a BBVA financial institution card, Aleh’s overseas id card (NIE), a Calvin Klein jacket and a Prada pockets.
Given that the residence had no indicators of harm or pressured entry, the pair suspect that the squatters in Aleh’s flat used the keys to realize entry earlier than stealing the objects.
Seven weeks after initially being squatted, Aleh’s flat stays occupied by the group, with makes an attempt often made to violently seize Siarhei’s property.
According to the brothers, any try and regain Aleh’s flat proves futile because the group of squatters threaten the pair with knives.
Despite calling the 112 emergency hotline on quite a few events, not one of the squatters have been arrested.
The brothers consider that the forthcoming judicial course of, each by way of their arrest and searching for to recuperate possession of the flat, may take over a 12 months.
They mentioned that the squatters had been invited to testify over alleged minor accidents inflicted by the duo, however failed to show up.
Siarhei, pissed off and worn out by the continuing saga, mentioned: ‘Me and my brother would possibly find yourself in jail merely for shielding what belongs to us’.
