The magistrate investigating the beating of a doll symbolizing the President of the Government, Pedro Sánchez, in front of the federal headquarters of the PSOE on New Year's Eve 2023 has decided to postpone the appearance as a witness of the former Secretary of State for Communication of the Government, Francesc Vallés, scheduled for this Thursday, as his formal summons has not been achieved.
The judge had requested Vallés's presence in order to clarify the content and receipt of the press summary that reached Sánchez on January 1, 2024, a few hours after the events. However, the official summons could not be materialized, according to legal sources familiar with the proceedings told Europa Press.
The law firm Valmaseda Abogados, which represents one of the investigated parties, indicated to Europa Press that "the difficulties in effectively locating the witness, combined with the urgency of the procedural deadlines, have also prevented the judicial body from carrying out the corresponding summons."
According to the same law firm, Vallés conveyed his refusal to appear voluntarily as long as there is no formal judicial summons in accordance with the guarantees provided by law.
Political violence and intimidation
Sánchez declared in writing to the investigating judge that the beating of that doll constituted a "direct appeal" to his "death" and a "real invitation" for someone to "dare to go from mere staging to a real attack" against him or his family, according to his testimony, which this news agency had access to.
Appearing as a private prosecutor, the also Secretary General of the PSOE explained that he learned of what happened first thing on January 1 through a press summary prepared by his own cabinet.
Thus, he became aware of the "repugnant aggression and destruction" of the figure representing him and verified that, in the live broadcasts disseminated on social networks, "violent, vulgar, insulting, and offensive comments" against his integrity proliferated, as the president states.
Sánchez maintained that what was announced as "a playful act and political protest" —eating grapes in front of the PSOE headquarters on Madrid's Ferraz street— "hid a perfectly organized act of political violence and intimidation."
Homicidal insinuations and climate of hatred
He stated that he perceived that the concentration devolved into "a violent manifestation of hatred" in which pre-constitutional symbols were displayed and coercion and threats were uttered against him, as he emphasized before the court.
"Not only were grave offenses and homicidal insinuations made that even reached members of my family, but the culminating moment of the staging included the display of a figure representing me which, after being hung from a traffic light, was beaten, clubbed, and torn apart," he indicated.
Similarly, he warned that the "dehumanization" towards him and his environment generated by the clubbing "could legitimize the commission of violent acts against people and spaces linked" to the PSOE.
"I am aware of the impact of the narrated events and the climate of intimidation that, ultimately, pursued an act full of symbolism contrary to our system of freedoms. It was not Pedro Sánchez who was being 'hung, clubbed, and burned in public,' but those who show affinity or militancy with a political project fully committed to our constitutional order and democracy in Spain," he insisted.