Spain's Supreme Court has upheld a one-year prison sentence for an Army sergeant on two counts of abuse of authority through serious insults to a female subordinate. The incidents took place between 2020 and 2021 and included sexually charged remarks such as "your comrades are going to bukake you". The military court's October ruling was confirmed in full by the Military Chamber.
It started in 2020 with a sticker made from a photo of the soldier eating her lunch, shared among comrades. The sergeant, known for his jocular style and nicknames like "bald" or "fat" for himself, was reprimanded by a captain who ordered the image deleted.
Months later, at the end of a shooting exercise, the sergeant said aloud in front of others: "get on the truck before your comrades bukake you", an expression with "evident objectification". In April 2021, about her haircut, he added: "if she had turned lesbian and now used rubber penises".
The soldier endured "public humiliation and shame", becoming "depressed" and going on anxiety leave. A military court sentenced him in October for serious insults, which the sergeant appealed claiming jokes and a disciplinary matter.
The Supreme Court dismissed the appeal, deeming the remarks "objectively offensive and humiliating" that damaged her "dignity, reputation, and esteem". Her account was corroborated by comrades, and the Military Chamber upholds the one-year employment suspension.
