The AN refuses to suspend the Bilbao festival promoted with the Abascal cartel with a shot to the neck

Orders Ertzaintza, Civil Guard and Police to adopt "the measures they deem necessary" to prevent terrorist acts at the festival

MADRID, 24 Ago. (EUROPA PRESS) -

The judge of the National Court Joaquín Gadea has refused to suspend a music festival in Bilbao on the occasion of the Big Week that is promoted with a poster that shows the face of the leader of Vox, Santiago Abascal, with "a red puddle" that "stages and symbolizes" the trail of blood that would result from being shot in the back of the head.

In an order, to which Europa Press has had access, the examining magistrate has denied the precautionary measure requested by the political formation, coinciding with the criteria of the Prosecutor's Office, which has not seen it necessary to suspend the festival but did request a report from the forces and state security forces. In his opinion, the existence of rational indications of criminality "does not justify" the suspension of the act called for "not appreciating a specific risk derived from allowing its celebration."

Gadea explained that "you can clearly separate" the publication of the poster from the specific event or act that is advertised. In this sense, it has considered it pertinent to order the Ertzaintza, the Civil Guard and the National Police "to carry out the pertinent control" of the act scheduled for this Thursday at 11:00 p.m. "to prevent terrorist acts from being committed in its development and, in the event that they occur, proceed to the identification and arrest of their perpetrators".

Thus, he has stressed that the fact of allowing the celebration of the act does not necessarily mean that crimes of terrorism will be committed. Even so, he has indicated that, in a first approximation, the denounced cartel "would be closer to the crimes of glorification of terrorism than to the humiliation of terrorist victims."

However, the judge has advanced that "from the provisional nature of this procedural moment" it can be seen that "the image exceeds the limits of freedom of expression." For this reason, he sees it as pertinent to "gather more information" about the dissemination of the poster or the people or groups that have been in charge of it.

Gadea has spoken after this Thursday he agreed to open proceedings as a result of the complaint filed by Vox for the dissemination of the poster in which Abascal appears. The magistrate adopted this decision considering that the facts denounced presented "characteristics that lead to presume the possible existence of a criminal offense."

The political formation indicated in its complaint that this poster could be constitutive of the crimes of threats, hatred and exaltation and apology of terrorism, and for this reason, it was interested in the suspension of the act announcing this cartel -scheduled for 11:00 p.m. this same Thursday--.

When opening proceedings, the judge agreed to forward the complaint to the Public Prosecutor's Office so that it could issue a report both on the competence of the National Court and on the measures to be adopted. Tax sources consulted by Europa Press indicated that, upon receiving this order from the magistrate, they sent the court their report in which they rejected the precautionary measure that Vox requested to suspend the event.

However, the Public Prosecutor's Office was interested in the Ertzaintza drawing up a report in case during the celebration of these concerts an event could occur that could be classified as a crime of glorification of terrorism.

The poster in question announces a series of concerts that will take place this Thursday as part of a festival called 'Callejero' organized by popular groups within the framework of Bilbao's Semana Grande, but outside the official program of the City Council. On the poster, Abascal can be seen in the foreground smiling in a black and white image and behind him, at the level of his neck, a red splatter that symbolizes blood.

As reported this Thursday by Vox in a press release, in the complaint written by the national legal deputy secretary, Marta Castro, it was indicated that "the dissemination of the poster and even the celebration of the act encourages violence, justifies its use for reasons of differences and ideological reasons, and therefore, it falls within an illegal act". She added that to this we must add that Abascal "has been the target of ETA terrorism throughout his life" and therefore "is also a clear example of apology for terrorism."

Vox explained that the organizers of the event could not rely on freedom of expression to maintain that poster because, in their opinion, it had "exceeded all limits." "The image of Santiago Abascal shot incites, promotes and fosters hatred against him, and together with him, to violence against the leaders, officials, supporters and voters of Vox", the party abounded, stressing that this incitement is caused by ideological and political motives and "attempts against dignity and the principle of equality and non-discrimination".

Likewise, they considered that the fact that the poster showed a method of threat and murder used by ETA was evidence that it has the "welcome, acceptance and praise" of the broadcasters, and pointed out that "it is unjustifiable".