Spain’s ruling Socialist Party announced on Friday that it had filed a complaint alleging that a dummy of Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez was “lynched” during a far-right rally on New Year’s Eve.
The incident comes after weeks of tensions after Mr Sanchez returned to power with support from Catalan separatists in exchange for a controversial amnesty law linked to the country’s failed bid for independence in 2017.
The amnesty bill has brought thousands of right-wing and far-right demonstrators to the streets in recent days, with rallies outside the Socialist Party’s Madrid headquarters often turning into scuffles with police.
During one New Year’s Eve protest, a dummy in a suit representing the prime minister was hung from a traffic light and beaten, punched and kicked by demonstrators chanting anti-Sanchez slogans.
In a complaint filed with prosecutors, a copy of which was seen by AFP, the Socialist Party asked investigators to identify “those responsible for creating the dummy to represent the prime minister and those who led the lynching campaign.”
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Last month, the party sued Santiago Abascal, leader of the far-right Vox party, over comments suggesting that Sánchez would meet the end of dictatorship and be “tied by the feet.”
The complaint accuses him of inciting “hatred” and “violence” against Mr. Sánchez and his party.
In its latest complaint, the party said the incident in front of party headquarters on New Year’s Eve was a “step forward” with historic words such as “Happy 1936.”
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The reference to 1936 is in connection with the beginning of the Spanish Civil War, when military attacks against the Socialist-led Republican government sparked a three-year conflict and a dictatorship that lasted for almost 40 years under Francisco Franco until 1975. Ta.
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