The Madrid Prosecutor’s Office has appealed the file issued by a court for the beating of a doll with the face of the President of the Government, Pedro Sánchez. The public ministry disagrees with the opinion of the judge who held that in those events that occurred in front of the PSOE headquarters on Ferraz Street there was no criminal offense “since they occurred in a festive atmosphere where the expressions uttered only constituted an example of the rejection of the people who attended the event”.
The prosecutor points out that these events were not covered by the generic right to freedom of expression. In his opinion, they represent a “personal” attack directed against the President of the Government, “which has had the objective of belittling, intimidating and vilifying the person of the latter, not being protected by the right to freedom of expression.” .
For the Prosecutor’s Office, the reported facts, “without prejudice to their definitive legal classification,” could constitute serious threats, with the aggravating circumstance of discrimination based on ideology. Furthermore, he argues that from an examination of the actions it could be seen that they are not “only” mere threats, “because they would also constitute a clear and manifest attack on the principle of equality and non-discrimination”, as the action was carried out for non-compliance. accept the ideology of the victim and the group he represents.
This circumstance, as stated in the appeal, emerges from the chosen place – in front of the main headquarters of the political party that he presides – together with the expressions uttered, such as “Ferraz must be burned.” Therefore, the Prosecutor’s Office understands that it was not a “spontaneous” action, since there was preparation with the commissioning and making of the doll that represented the figure of the victim along with a rope that was long enough to be hung from a traffic light.
The letter explains that their discrepancy regarding the filing of the complaint is due to the fact that the facts investigated cannot be covered by the generic right to freedom of expression, in its aspect of political matters or freedom of criticism.
Furthermore, he adds that it cannot serve to support that the call where these events occurred was authorized by the Government Delegation, “since the purpose of the call had nothing to do with what happened”, since it was requested for the celebration. of the new year from that place in a peaceful way, “which is far from what was collected by the images linked to the actions.”
Finally, the Prosecutor’s Office asks the judge to revoke his order and issue a new resolution agreeing to a series of procedures such as the accumulation of the additional report in which the identity of several of the people involved is reported or to inform the Provincial Information Brigade to complete the investigation of the facts to determine the identity of those responsible for the production and placement of the doll that was hung and to inform of its possible connection with violent groups or movements of extremist ideologies.
