Police unions refuse to repeal the 'gag law': "There is no negotiation with those who applaud when they kick police officers"

They ask the Interior to be heard and that the norm "not be a victim of the obsessions of the extreme left", as they are suspicious of ERC and EH Bildu

MADRID, 24 Oct. (EUROPA PRESS) -

Several representative organizations of the National Police and the Civil Guard have advanced this Tuesday their rejection of the new attempt by PSOE and Sumar to repeal the Law for the Protection of Citizen Security, known by its detractors as the 'gag law'. "The safety of Spaniards is not negotiated with people who applaud when they kick police officers," they recalled.

Several unions and associations, which are suspicious of the demands of ERC and EH Bildu that caused the reform to fail in the previous legislature, have demanded from the Ministry of the Interior that the rule "not be a victim of the obsessions of the extreme left", which would make of Spain "a more insecure country". Police organizations also harshly criticized the possibility of including them in the amnesty law.

The agreement for a coalition government between the parties led by Pedro Sánchez (PSOE) and Yolanda Díaz (Sumar) mentions the 'gag law' and the Penal Code to promise to "reform" and, where appropriate, "repeal those aspects of the current regulations that limit the rights of assembly and freedom of expression."

In the previous legislature, the law reform project approved by the Executive of Mariano Rajoy in 2015 failed due to the lack of consensus with its parliamentary partners, despite the fact that it was an investiture promise agreed upon by the leader of the PSOE, Pedro Sánchez, and from Unidas Podemos, Pablo Iglesias.

After months of negotiation, ERC and EH Bildu distanced themselves from the agreed text - which PSOE, Unidas Podemos and PNV did support - considering it unambitious. In parallel, the Ministry of the Interior led by Fernando Grande-Marlaska refused to give in on the discordant points.

The insurmountable differences that caused the reform to run aground were the demand to eliminate rubber balls as anti-riot material, prohibit the rejection of migrants at the border - known as hot returns - and add "greater objectification" in disobedience and lack of compliance. that police officers suffer.

The SUP has reacted by showing its opposition to the reform proposed by PSOE and Sumar because it affects "security and the free exercise of rights that can be developed on public roads."

"If they want to reform the law, the first thing they have to do is talk to the police unions, as we are the ones who know what problems exist, and not legislate in a hurry," they said. "The safety of Spaniards is not negotiated with people who applaud when they kick police officers," she added.

In a statement, JUPOL has reiterated its "rejection" of the agreement between PSOE and Sumar to "rekindle" the intended reform of the 'gag law'. The union assures that these parties are "ashamed" of their proposal, hence at first only the second of the parties "has included this point in a publication on social networks and not in the official statement."

According to the general secretary of JUPOL, Aarón Rivero, the foreseeable reissue of the Pedro Sánchez Government will include a reform of the citizen security law that "does not take into account the opinion of the professionals" of the State Security Forces and Bodies nor of the "jurists".

"It will make Spain a more insecure country," predicts JUPOL, for whom the reform "only benefits violent protesters and criminals and binds the agents of the Security Forces and Corps hand and foot" since it goes "in the direction contrary to the new challenges: high intensity crime, violent youth gangs, international mafias or technological crime.

The CEP has also warned that the agreement between PSOE-Sumar mentions the identification of national police forces. In the absence of details, they warn that "it could once again put in the spotlight a group whose identification has already been fully guaranteed in regulations and instructions for 17 years, approved precisely with a socialist Government."

In this sense, he has warned of the "new attempt to dismantle an essential norm for coexistence", all of this when 2022 was the year with the "highest number of crimes of attacks against agents of authority." In this sense, this Police union has demanded that the Ministry of the Interior "listen to the police and reinforce their security in the face of the increase in violence in the street."

"The modification of this norm cannot and should not become the victim of the obsessions of a certain sector of the extreme political left of this country," continues CEP, which points out that the law will not be good for these groups until it "obeys their interests".

From the Civil Guard associations, AUGC has also reacted by denouncing the "detrimental setback for all citizens" that reforming the citizen security law would entail, meeting the demands of ERC, EH Bildu and other parties such as Junts.

"Now an attempt is being made again to undertake a reform of an organic law that has been used completely normally since its approval," laments AUGC, which warns that this causes "legal uncertainty" for both agents and citizens.