Five men convicted of sexually assaulting a young woman at the Pamplona bull running festival in 2016 are due to be released on bail on Friday, re-igniting outrage over the case which has led to mass protests calling for tougher punishments of sex crimes.

The men, who joked about the assault in a Whatsapp group called “The Wolf Pack”, were cleared of rape but convicted of the lesser crime of sexual abuse in April. Both the perpetrators and the victim are appealing the nine-year prison sentences, meaning their convictions are not final.

A court in the northern region of Navarra decided to free the men after two years in custody, while they await a final sentence, arguing that there was little chance of repeat offences. Two years tends to be the limit for provisional imprisonment in Spain.

A crowd filled Pamplona’s central square on Thursday evening and walked through the streets with a banner proclaiming: “We women believe you” - a phrase that has become as widely recognized in Spain as the #MeToo label to denounce sexual harassment in the United States.

Protests were planned on Friday outside the justice ministry in Madrid and other cities.

Images of the five men, sporting the white t-shirts and red neck-scarves of the San Fermin festival in Pamplona, have been splashed across newspapers and websites.

The convicts’ loss of anonymity makes the risk of repeat offences “all but unthinkable”, the court said in a statement.

The release of the five was met with concern across Spain’s political spectrum.

“I respect judicial decisions, but as a woman I am very worried to know (the Wolf Pack) are out in the street,” Ines Arrimadas, a prominent deputy from center-right party Ciudadanos, tweeted.

“Let’s agree to revise our penal system to try to avoid these situations.”