Spain • • • 🌿 Progressive

Cordón policial separando a dos grupos de manifestantes en una plaza española
Un dispositivo policial en una plaza durante una jornada de protestas, en una imagen alusiva a los hechos de Avilés. · Erick Prometeo Media

Vox Sues Lastra Over Protection at Abascal Rally in Avilés

Vox has filed a complaint before the Court of First Instance in Avilés against Adriana Lastra, Cecilia Pérez and other possible officials over the incidents at…

--- The context --- Santiago Abascal, the Vox candidate for prime minister, held a public event on October 21 in Camposagrado square in Avilés. A counter-demonstration had been called just a few metres away and half an hour earlier. That overlap in time and place, together with serious disturbances that same morning in La Coruña during another Vox event, lies at the heart of the legal complaint now filed. --- The facts --- Vox said on Tuesday that it has filed a complaint before the Court of First Instance in Avilés against Adriana Lastra, the PSOE's lead candidate in Asturias and the central government's delegate until her removal was agreed on October 20, as well as against her successor at the delegation, Cecilia Pérez, and any other officials found responsible during the investigation. According to the party's account, groups of demonstrators tried to force their way into the event, and there were fireworks and objects thrown, assaults on officers and damage to street furniture. The National Police arrested three people for public disorder. Vox also maintains that the delegation allowed the counter-demonstration to go ahead without changing its location or its timing. --- The positions --- The party's position is that this decision was taken despite knowledge of the serious disturbances that morning in La Coruña. It therefore asks for an investigation into the government delegation's decisions, the police operation deployed on the day and any criminal responsibilities that may arise from what happened in Avilés. In its filing, Vox attributes to Lastra, Pérez and any other responsible authorities or officials an alleged offence of administrative prevarication by omission and an alleged offence of denial of assistance. Against the promoters linked to Asturies Antifascista, the Sindicato de Estudiantes and Izquierda Revolucionaria it alleges an electoral offence, incitement to hatred and violently preventing or seriously disrupting a meeting, in attempted form. For the material authors it seeks investigation of an alleged electoral offence, the offence under article 514.4 in attempted form, assault on officers, public disorder and damage. --- What remains unknown --- No public response from the people and institutions named is included in the available information, nor is there any known outcome yet from the investigation the complaint requests. It also remains unknown whether the court will admit the filing or what steps it might order regarding the police operation and the decisions taken beforehand. --- Unanswered questions --- Why was the counter-demonstration kept just a few metres away and half an hour earlier despite that morning's disturbances in La Coruña? What risk assessments did the government delegation make before allowing that overlap? Will Adriana Lastra and Cecilia Pérez respond publicly to the accusations the complaint attributes to them? --- EPM analysis --- The case brings together two demands that must be protected at the same time: the right of protesters to gather and the right of a party to hold a public event without violence. When two demonstrations share the same space, advance planning and a safe distance stop being administrative details and become the practical guarantee of those rights for everyone involved. 📌 EPM Take: In EPM's view, the complaint raises a legitimate question about how security in Avilés was planned, because keeping two opposing gatherings just a few metres apart required an especially careful risk assessment after the La Coruña disturbances. That does not make the accusations against Lastra, Pérez or the promoters proven, since today they are only one side's allegations. The investigation must separate political criticism from criminal responsibility, and do so with evidence rather than slogans of any kind.
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