The 38th Court of Instruction in Madrid has rejected the appeal filed by former Podemos MP Pablo Echenique against the opening of preliminary proceedings in which he appears as the accused of an alleged hate crime, and for which reason he will have to appear in court next Tuesday to testify.
Christian Lawyers denounced Echenique for publishing a tweet on the social network X on May 10 in which he stated that “a priest is much more likely to commit a crime of sexual assault against minors than a migrant.”
“From the point of view of public safety, it would be more effective to deport priests than to toughen immigration policy,” added the former MP in his message, in which he reacted to some words on immigration from the Archbishop of Oviedo, Jesús Sanz, who said: “Within this do-gooder opening, people who are unwanted can sneak in.”
In a court order, to which Europa Press has had access, the court rejects Echenique’s allegations against the opening of preliminary proceedings, considering that “this is not, as the appellant claims, a debate on abuses within the Catholic Church, but rather on whether the statements made by the accused have the appearance of constituting a hate crime or not.”
For Judge Carlos Valle, the preliminary proceedings “are aimed at clarifying the true scope of what has been reported, since it seems incontrovertible that ‘prima facie’ it may have the character of a hate crime.”
“The initiation of preliminary proceedings does not prejudge anything, but rather represents the beginning of the investigation of a case whose purpose may be not only the indictment of the accused but also, obviously, the archiving and dismissal of the proceedings,” the judge stated.
According to the judge, the former deputy’s appeal “intends to do the opposite of carrying out an adequate investigation; that is, to try to protect the reported expressions under freedom of expression when, in fact, despite this undeniable freedom of expression, there are offenses against legal rights protected by criminal law, which are carried out through the media, social networks, etc.”
Sources close to Echenique consulted by Europa Press have linked the message he published with a report by the Ombudsman on sexual abuse in the Church and have stressed that the words of the Archbishop of Oviedo are “openly xenophobic”.
As a result of this ruling, the summons to appear as an investigated party for the former deputy of the purple party requested by Judge Hortensia Domingo de la Fuente for next September 17 at 12:00 noon is maintained after having opened proceedings against him, pointing out that the reported facts “present characteristics that lead to the presumption of the possible existence of a criminal offense.”
Source: www.eldiario.es
