The spokesman for the Socialist Municipal Group, Reyes Maroto, testified Tuesday afternoon in Madrid’s Investigative Court No. 13 after being summoned on charges of defamation. The Community of Madrid filed a complaint against Maroto last June over a statement he made on March 13, referring to the administration of the government led by Isabel Díaz Ayuso regarding elderly patients in nursing homes during the pandemic, who he said were “killed.” “I did not want to accuse anyone of murder,” the politician said before the judge, according to what news agencies reported.
“7,291 victims or elderly people were killed,” Maroto declared at the time, when the political scene witnessed a small revolution due to the broadcast of the independent documentary. 7,291Who addressed the issue of residency on national television My neighbor. The Community of Madrid announced shortly after these statements that it would file a complaint against Maroto, a complaint that entered into force in June, considering that its spokeswoman did not retract her words in a reconciliation session held in the same month.
Maroto was called to testify on charges of “propaganda defamation” (accusing someone through social networks or the media) by suggesting that elderly people had been “killed” because they were “not referred to hospitals in our community, as a result of the regional government’s signature protocol of shame.” According to socialist sources, his words “explicitly” refer to the administration of the autonomous government, in his capacity as the official spokesman for the Socialist Workers Party and in the political sphere. The same sources indicate that her statement was not intended to “attack” the personal dignity of the President of the Region, but rather to criticize her government administration, “with the exception” of the personal sphere.
The speaker apologized several times for these words and repeated them in the court hearing the complaint. Maroto reiterated to the judge that he had already “clarified” the meaning of his words in a statement published on March 14, one day after they were spoken, and that the media had “widely reported them.” This same statement was presented during the reconciliation ceremony as an apology and was not accepted by the regional executive authority.
Madrid’s People’s Party spokesman, Carlos Díaz Bache, told media on Tuesday that the PSOE spokesperson “went beyond her statements.” “To constantly return to that moment to misrepresent the pain of the victims and put a number on the president’s shoulders is a moral affront that will not go down well on the left.” According to Bache, “There are 143 court rulings that guarantee the Madrid government’s performance well during the pandemic.”
As a result of these statements, the Popular Party led by the Mayor of Madrid, José Luis Martínez Almeida, severed its ties with the PSOE. Almeida’s time in court allowed her to once again insist that the Socialist speaker “ask for pardon without reservations” and “examine his conscience.” “He called the Popular Party in Madrid murderers and there is no excuse for launching this slander,” Almeida told the media from Madrid’s Plaza Mayor.
According to the mayor, Maroto brought to the city and to the municipal plenary session “anxiety, confrontation and hatred.” The mayor said: “We witnessed scenes that we had never witnessed before in the previous legislature and the only difference is her name is Reyes Maroto, because she is the only official spokesperson who has not been there before.” He concluded by saying: “We have come this far. We must also apologize to the people of Madrid because they are not a means or vehicle for doing politics in this city. This is a city where difference is valued, not where difference is pointed out.”
This was not the only complaint from the Community of Madrid regarding the opposition’s words. Another case has also been filed against Podemos’ organizing secretary and spokesman, Pablo Fernández, for saying the Madrid president should be “in prison” for “managing murders” of Covid-19 patients in residences. Added to this is another case against the Secretary General of the Podemos Party, Ione Pillara, who accused Ayuso of carrying out a “murderous and criminal management” of the aforementioned residences.
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