The National Court decided to acquit Yassine Kanjaa, the Islamist terrorist who murdered sacristan Diego Valencia in Algeciras on January 25, 2023, considering that a complete exemption due to psychiatric disorder had been proven. Nevertheless, it ordered his commitment to a psychiatric prison facility for up to 30 years. The ruling, which has already sparked outrage among the plaintiffs, holds that the assailant acted under a psychotic state that "completely nullified" his ability to understand and control his actions.
The verdict is based on expert reports describing a "schizophrenic-type disorder with acute psychotic decompensation, affective and behavioral inappropriateness," a situation that, according to the Court, prevented him from exercising his intellectual and volitional faculties. The Prosecutor's Office had requested 50 years in prison by classifying the events as Islamist terrorism: the murder of the sacristan and the attempted beheading of the parish priest of the San Isidro church.
During the trial, Kanjaa left no doubt about his religious motivations. He said he considered himself "Allah's messenger" and admitted that he sought to "cut off the heads" of priests whom he described as "enemies of God". He explained that he chose a machete because "Islam arrived with the sword and has returned with the sword," and maintained that churches "must be turned into mosques." He also acknowledged that, had he not been stopped, he would have continued his attacks.
