The impunity law presented yesterday by the Socialist Party (PSOE) is an attack on several sectors of our society.
Emptying of content a right that the Constitution attributes to all citizens
In particular, this attack is directed against sectors that have contributed to bringing to light the corruption cases of the Sánchez government, his party and his personal entourage, such as judges, political parties, foundations and associations. With this law, the aim is to close the judicial cases affecting the socialists on the fly, limiting the exercise of the popular action that Article 125 of the Constitution attributes to all citizens.
That is to say, the socialists intend to strip away a right recognised by the Constitution, rendering it practically ineffective, simply because it now harms them by granting others the same right that they had to exercise that popular accusation when the corruption cases affected their political rivals. It is a law with which the socialists grant themselves a privilege of impunity.
Socialism's revenge against journalism for uncovering its corruption
But of all the groups affected by this clearly unconstitutional reform, journalism is the one that has received the greatest attack. Some independent media have brought to light cases of corruption affecting the socialists. Sánchez and the PSOE tried to discredit this information by claiming that it was "hoaxes", but they were the ones lying: the information was true and has ended with several people being charged with various crimes.
However, the socialists do not admit that reality contradicts their story, as can be seen by reading Article 2 Ten of the bill presented by the PSOE (see PDF, page 14). Currently, the Criminal Procedure Act states the following in its Article 313 on the admission of complaints by judges:
"The complaint will be dismissed in the same manner when the facts on which it is based do not constitute a crime,or when it is not considered competent to conduct the investigation that is the subject of the complaint."
The PSOE intends to replace this brief paragraph with two longer paragraphs, which read as follows:
"The complaint will be rejected in the same way when the facts on which it is based do not constitute a crime or when the complaint is manifestly false. The same procedure will be followed when the complaint is based on mere hypotheses without a minimum basis of credibility, or on journalistic information or information contained in any means or channel of communication or dissemination without other data or factual elements that serve to provide indicative evidence of the facts reported,
Exceptionally, they will be admitted when they reflect unverified facts, but of general knowledge, or statements made freely and spontaneously by the suspect in relation to the object of the investigation, or statements by political figures or organizations that have not been denied or questioned in the process."
This is a revenge by the PSOE against all journalism, and not only against the free media that have brought its corruption cases to light. The first paragraph implies equating any journalistic information with manifestly false statements, considering anything published by a media outlet inadmissible for a complaint.
A reform that implies prejudging that all media are lying
This means prejudging that all journalists and media outlets lie, even if what they publish is true, forcing judges to dismiss a complaint simply because the facts reported are based on what a journalist published through a media outlet, instead of having been communicated by a baker, a construction worker or an insurance agent. The PSOE wants to turn its discourse that the media publish hoaxes into law, directing it against all media outlets, including its affiliated media. It is absolute nonsense.
Eliminating journalism as a democratic counterweight
What this paragraph implies is the invalidation of one of the essential functions of the media in a democracy: to oversee political power, a function that constitutes one of the most important and effective democratic counterweights. The text of the law indicates that the socialists intend to discourage the media from bringing cases of corruption to light, since no one will be able to file a complaint based on what is published and, in addition, any media outlet that dares to bring them to light could suffer reprisals in various ways.
A reform to turn Spain into a new Venezuela
What the PSOE presented yesterday is not a reform to protect fundamental rights, as it claims: it is a reform to discredit and muzzle the media (especially those who dare to publish information that is bothersome to the government) and to grant impunity to corrupt politicians, precisely when the socialist government, the PSOE and Sánchez's family circle are immersed in several corruption scandals. If this reform is approved, Spain will be even closer to becoming a new Venezuela, a country in which the socialists degraded democracy until it became the dictatorship we know today.
---
Photo: PSOE.
Don't miss the news and content that interest you. Receive the free daily newsletter in your email: Click here to subscribe |
Opina sobre esta entrada: