The parliamentary commission that was finally going to lead and reform the “ citizen security law “, imposed by the right and popularly known as the “gag law”, has definitively signed his death certificate. In question, the intransigent position of the Catalan and Basque separatists.
With our correspondent in Madrid, Francois Musseau
The left-wing government has been talking about it for four years, and talks about it as a necessity, namely to reform the gag law. This law promulgated by the right in 2015 and which, schematically, reduces the rights of demonstrators and strongly accentuates the power of the police. The Socialists wanted to reduce police omnipotence, make possible a spontaneous demonstration, allow demonstrators to film potential violent and unjustified actions on the part of security guards, among other things.
Disagree with left-wing separatists
However, while this reform was about to see the light of day, two key parties for its approval opposed it, the Catalan separatists of the Republican Left of Catalonia (ERC) and the Basque left of Euskal Herria Bildu. These formations have shown themselves to be intransigent, being in favor of disobedience vis-à-vis the police and against the use of rubber bullets, two conditions that the left in power absolutely wanted to maintain in the new law. As a result of this discord, the current very restrictive and repressive security law will remain in force.
Coming into force in the midst of anti-austerity demonstrations in the country, it provoked an outcry from human rights organizations such as Amnesty International.
►Also listen: International report – Spain: since 2014, the Catalan police no longer have the right to use flash-balls