Deputy Bustamante (IU) resigns his seat in Congress and assures that the accusation of mistreatment is "false"

He maintains that he is "innocent" but leaves his record "complying with what the statutes dictate" of his formation

The deputy of United We Can in Congress Miguel Ángel Bustamante, who has been denounced by his wife for alleged gender violence, announced this Monday that he is resigning his seat, assuring that he is "innocent" and that the lawsuit against him is "false ".

This has been advanced by the parliamentarian for Seville, who is active in IU, on social networks through a brief statement to emphasize that he leaves his deputy act complying with what the statutes of his formation dictate.

Bustamante has stressed that he has verified that there is a lawsuit against him from his still partner, something that he only became aware of on Friday through the media, and that it is a situation that affects his personal life.

However, and in compliance with the statutes of the formation, the force by which he was elected deputy in Congress, he resigns from his deputy status, reiterating that "he is innocent" and that "all the accusations against him are false." Finally, he wanted to thank the "many shows of support and total trust" in him that have come to him in recent days.

The statutes of the formation state that the affiliation of people involved in gender violence will not be accepted. In the disciplinary section, the commission of acts that imply violence against women is considered a "very serious" offense.

In fact, Bustamante was provisionally suspended from militancy and IU had asked him to provide information, both personal and legal, in order to assess whether he adopted more measures, among which the possibility of requesting the deputy act could be given.

Bustamante took office as deputy for Seville in June of last year, replacing María Márquez who left her post for personal reasons and to date was spokesperson for the Committee on Territorial Policy in the chamber, as well as deputy spokesperson for the group in that of Industry, Commerce and Tourism.

With his resignation, the Electoral Board will proceed to issue the credential as a parliamentarian to the next in the candidacy of United We Can for said constituency, which in this case will correspond to Ezequiel García Nieto, who is a member of Podemos, and in case of declining to pick up the seat the next is Raquel Mercedes, also from the purple formation.

Last Friday, the IU leadership decided to immediately suspend Bustamante from militancy given the seriousness of the information about the lawsuit for alleged ill-treatment.

The Secretary of Organization of the IU, Ismael González, explained that the IU leadership unanimously agreed to this measure, during an extraordinary meeting on Friday, by virtue of article 28 of the internal rules of the formation, which empowers it to take precautionary measures in in case of having knowledge of facts susceptible to opening a file for a very serious infraction.

TS ASKS THE COURT TO DECIDE ON THE WOMAN'S PROTECTION ORDER

Sources from the Superior Court of Justice of Andalusia (TSJA) explained that the Court of First Instance and Instruction number 1 of Écija received last week a statement from the National Police in which a complaint against the deputy by his partner for an alleged crime of mistreatment and others".

Once the complaint was received, the TSJA abounds, the Court initiated preliminary proceedings and transferred it to the Prosecutor's Office so that it could report on the competence to investigate the facts, given the status of the accused as a deputy in Congress. In this sense, the Public Ministry issued a report favorable to the inhibition to the Supreme Court, after which the judge issued a new order agreeing to said inhibition.

Precisely today the high court has demanded that the investigating court decide, as soon as possible, on the protection order requested by the deputy's partner, when denouncing him for habitual abuse.

On Friday, Bustamante defended himself against the accusations of gender-based violence against his wife and "totally" denied having committed ill-treatment, asserting that "I have not punched him in his life."

In this regard, he reported that he was in a civil divorce proceeding and stressed that the complaint was related to that separation procedure. Therefore, he hoped that the complaint would be resolved soon and justice would be done, in addition to recognizing that on a personal level he was "very affected".