The evidence that proves Franco’s apology in the celebrations of November 20 is already on the government table. Following the planned script, the Executive has already received the reports requested from the delegations on the rallies of that day, the first to be held after the entry into force of the Democratic Memory Law. The possible sanctions are already closer.
As he has been able to confirm Publicthe Executive already has these documents, so the next step will be the appointment of an instructor who must analyze said reports to determine if any of the assumptions established by the new regulations have been incurred.
The Democratic Memory Law entered into force on October 21, just one month before the extreme right, as in previous years, took to the streets again to pay tribute to the already Jose Antonio Primo de Rivera before a new anniversary of their respective deaths.
According to what is contemplated in that text, it will be considered very serious offenses -punished with sanctions of between 10,000 and 150,000 euros- those “calls for events, dissemination or publicity campaigns” that “incite personal or collective exaltation, of the military uprising, of war or of the dictatorship, of its leaders, participants in the repressive system or of the organizations that supported the dictatorial regime”, in which there is “discredit, contempt or humiliation” towards the victims of Francoism.
After the images of the 20N rally held by the Spanish Catholic Movement (MCE) in Plaza de Orientethe Government announced the opening of “disciplinary proceedings against the persons and/or organizations that carried out these acts”.
With the new regulations in hand, the Executive announced on November 21 that it had requested from all government delegations the “videos, certificates and evidence that can prove the exaltation of the dictatorship and those responsible for those conducts contrary to the Law of Democratic Memory”.
Executive sources told this newspaper that “information has arrived from various acts in different parts of the country,” so now it will be the instructor who must analyze the evidence and determine whether to initiate disciplinary proceedings through administrative channels.
“Careful”
“So far nothing has arrived,” he told Public jose louis corralleader of the MCE – a small far-right party based in a basement in Madrid – and responsible for the call on November 20 in Plaza de Oriente, where numerous Francoist flags were displayed and there were speeches exalting the dictatorship.
The MCE regularly convenes different rallies to exalt the regime. His visits to the Valley of the Fallen and to Mingorrubio Cemeterya new scenario of apology for the dictatorship after the transfer of the remains of the dictator to that cemetery.
“We have not transgressed any of the law,” defends Corral, who assures that during the rally on November 20 he spoke with the other speakers to tell them to be “careful with all this.”
While waiting for possible news from the Government, this veteran Francoist leader assures that he plans to go “to the supreme courtto the Constitutional and to European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg” if the government decides to fine you.
“There is an attempt to scare us, to intimidate us”
“We are not just going to defend ourselves, we are going to attack. We will request disqualification and imprisonment for those who try to intimidate us in this way,” warned Corral, who maintains that the new Democratic Memory Law wants to “intimidate” the Francoists. “There is an attempt to scare us, to intimidate us. I call that terrorism,” he said.
Inarritu’s question
The 20N act in Plaza de Oriente organized by Corral has also reached Congress. The deputy of EH Bildu Jon Inarritu has sent a written question to the Government to request information about that rally, in which “some 100 people gathered in the center of Madrid on the occasion of the anniversary
of the death of the dictator Franco”.
“Taking into account that the events have been occurring for decades, why was the concentration authorized?” asks the Basque representative, who has also requested that it be clarified “who requested the authorization for the concentration” and what is the content of the record that took the National Police.
Iñarritu has also requested that “how many people were identified before, during and after the events” and “for what reasons” be specified. Finally, he has requested the Government to clarify “what files have been opened“and what has been the result of them. So far there has been no response.
