Spain’s ruling Socialist Party (PSOE) has filed a complaint after an effigy of Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez was battered during a New Year’s Eve demonstration in Madrid.
The Socialists asked the prosecutor’s office to identify the perpetrators, saying the doll’s “lynching” could constitute “incitement to hatred” against Sánchez, Spanish media reported Friday.
Sánchez has faced months of outrage after he secured a new term in the top job by offering an amnesty deal to Catalan separatists in exchange for their political support for his government. The right-wing opposition, many in the judiciary and prominent lawyers have spoken out against the pact.
On New Year’s Eve, a crowd of about 300 demonstrators gathered in front of the Socialists’ headquarters, strung up a piñata supposed to resemble Sánchez and beat it until it broke.
The Socialists immediately condemned the incident, saying the party would pursue “legal avenues.” And in the complaint filed to prosecutors Friday, PSOE said the beating was the “culmination” of “harassment” of the party headquarters that “has altered its normal functioning for months,” as crowds have regularly gathered to protest Sánchez’s amnesty deal.
The Socialists also pointed the finger at far-right party Vox — a loud critic of Sánchez’s deal with the Catalans — saying the party seems to be the “common” factor behind all the “coordinated actions” in recent months.
