The PSOE tries to justify the controversial statements of the first vice president of the Government, María Jesús Montero, after hearing the acquittal of the Superior Court of Justice of Catalonia (TSJC) on the case of Dani Alves. Montero, in an act of the PSOE in Jaén, rejected that the victim’s version was questioned and charged against one of the most basic principles of criminal law: “And it is said that the presumption of innocence is ahead of the testimony of young, brave women, who decide to denounce the powerful, the greats, the famous ones,” he said.
The ‘number 2’ of the Government describedThe sentence that acquits the former player of FC Barcelona for a sexual assault to a young woman as a “shame” after the entire route of fighting gender violence that has made his party: “What shame after everything the PSOE has done in the recognition of women’s rights, of the wage gap, in pensions, in everything that reflects that throughout our life we have been discriminated against or we have not played the role that we have been discriminated against. We had to play, ”he said during the act organized in Jaén.
From Ferraz they wanted to remove iron from the matter claiming that the Minister of Finance was carried away by the “helplessness” she felt after knowing the resolution of the TSJC. The spokeswoman of the PSOE, Esther Peña, stressed that the sentences “comply with and respected”, but consider that it is inevitable to talk about them and appealed to the “freedom of expression” of Montero.
Procedural guarantee that protects accused people
This comment from María Jesús Montero about the presumption of innocence fully against one of the fundamental rights collected in the Spanish Constitution. According to him Article 24.2 of the Constitution, “All people have the right to obtain the effective guardianship of judges and courts in the exercise of their legitimate rights and interests, without, in any case, defenselessness may occur.” This implies that it corresponds to the State, through the Prosecutor’s Office, the burden of proveing the defendant’s guilt, and not to the accused to demonstrate his innocence.
In the second section of the article Article 24.2 of the Constitution, It is stated that all persons “have the right to the ordinary judge predetermined by law, to the defense and the assistance of lawyer, to be informed of the accusation made against them, to a public process without undue delay and with all the guarantees, to use the relevant means of evidence for their defense, not to declare against themselves, not to confess to the presumption of innocence.” It is established that anyone accused of a crime has the right to be treated as innocent until their guilt is demonstrated by a final sentence.
He Principle of presumption of innocence It prohibits the prejudice to the accused person before a fair trial is carried out and ensures that the Court cannot be based on prejudices or previous opinions to issue their sentence. Therefore, The presumption of innocence is a procedural guarantee that protects the accused person of being considered guilty without a judgment and without sufficient evidence that demonstrates it. This principle is deeply rooted in the Constitution and criminal regulations, it is an essential pillar of a fair and equitable justice system.
The presumption of innocence is also recognized by the UN, in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights In its article 11, it establishes that “every person accused of a crime has the right to presume his innocence as long as his guilt is not proven in accordance with the law.” The International Pact for Civil and Political Rights in its article 14.2, it is affirmed that “every person accused of a crime will be considered innocent until his guilt is proven according to the law.”
Four associations of judges and three prosecutors issued a statement on Monday to represent Montero his attitude. They pointed out the importance of the presumption of innocence: “Questioning this basic principle can put procedural guarantees and equity in judgments at risk,” they warn. For its part, the PP has loaded hard against the first vice president of the Government for its “offensive” against the judges after the sentence: “They have already insulted businessmen, journalists, judges, and now insult the Spaniards. What is this? Of course, I should have resigned, but it should have resigned a long time ago, ”explained Borja Sémper, national spokesman of the PP. Far from retracting, Montero has continued with his challenging attitude stating that he was not going to accept “lessons or misrepresentations of the PP.”
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