A magistrate from Madrid has agreed to initiate preliminary proceedings following a complaint regarding the episode of the pepper spray canister that the PP deputy Ana Vázquez displayed in Congress, and has requested the complainants, employees of the PSOE, to submit the corresponding injury report.
The decision was made by Judge Pedro Merchante, head of the Instruction Court of Plaza Number 6 of the Court of Instance of Madrid, as reported by "Okdiario" and confirmed by legal sources consulted by Europa Press.
According to these sources, Merchante has required the workers of the Socialist Group who filed the complaint to provide the medical documentation before deciding whether or not to open a formal investigation.
The employees reported being affected, along with other people, by the contents of the pepper spray after it was emptied in a restroom following the expulsion of the PP deputy from the Plenary by order of the President of Congress, Francina Armengol.
In relation to this case, the Congress of Deputies concluded the processing of the sanctioning file against Vázquez due to the early dissolution of the Cortes because of the call for general elections on November 29.
Before that dissolution, PSOE and Sumar, which hold a majority in the governing body of the Lower House, had agreed to impose a sanction consisting of a week of suspension from employment and salary.
"Serious" and "harmful" conduct according to the Board
However, the sanction proposal from the Board had to be submitted to a vote in the Plenary of Congress, and the dissolution of the Cortes caused the procedure to lapse, as the plenary session required by the Regulations to validate the sanction could not be held.
Despite this, the Permanent Deputation Board has reprimanded the deputy, considering that the incident she was involved in during the plenary session of September 23 is of "undeniable seriousness."
The body recalls that the introduction of weapons into Parliament is "completely and unconditionally" prohibited by the Regulations and that "this is a limit that no other deputy has exceeded during this constitutional period."
"The responsible individuals must not confuse the impossibility of imposing a sanction due to the early dissolution of Congress with a pardon of their conduct," warned the Board in a written statement accessed by Europa Press.
In that document it was emphasized that Vázquez, who continues to be part of the Permanent Deputation, is "politically responsible for a serious violation of the Regulations" for introducing into the parliamentary chamber a "weapon" that affected "dozens of people," one of them with medical leave, forced the evacuation of offices in three different buildings, and generated "considerable" economic damages.
"His behavior in the hemicycle, his decision to display for a few hours a pepper spray in the chamber of the House and his attempt to shift the responsibility onto a subordinate" constitute, in the opinion of the Board, "reprehensible and harmful" conduct for the General Courts.