The Legislative Assembly did not get enough votes this Thursday to remove the deputy’s jurisdiction so that he could be processed for the accusation against him of meetings with gangs.
ARENA deputy, Norman Quijano, was not outrageous This Thursday by the Legislative Assembly to face a criminal process for the crimes of electoral fraud and illicit groups that the Attorney General of the Republic imputes to him.
Then the defense of Quijano He presented to the plenary the alleged meeting with gang members and a church pastor, where the audio of the same was not heard very well and the images were blurred, the debate by the legislators followed and in the end the vote, which was not enough to disprove the legislator and that he was processed in a common court, the case now went to the file.
In the special plenary, the 43 votes required to withdraw the immunity were not reached. With 41 votes in favor, 34 against and one abstention, it was decided that there was no training due to the tricolor parliamentarian and the case will be closed, as established in the Internal Rules of Congress.
The deputies of GANA, FMLN and some of the PCN voted in favor; the rest along with ARENA and the PDC voted against.
Defense: That is the video, there is no more. That is the fact that is attributed to the Dip. Norman Quijano, there are no more meetings. It is wrong to think that the Assembly should only pass the process to the courts for them to decide. The doubt cannot be used to the detriment of the accused. pic.twitter.com/acyFM1B0MI
– Legislative Assembly (@AsambleaSV) May 7, 2020
Before voting on the favorable opinion issued by the special preliminary hearing commission, its prosecutor and PDC deputy, Jorge Mazariego, explained that the Public Ministry did not present solid evidence against Quijano and that there were doubts in process. Despite this, he asked the plenary to ratify the opinion so that it was in the First Criminal Chamber of San San Salvador where the guilt or innocence of the deputy was demonstrated.
In contrast, Quijano’s defense said that he had not committed crimes and that the meeting he had in 2014 at a local National Network of Pastors that he had with pastors and gang members in the process of rehabilitation was for electoral purposes. He rejected that money had been given to them or offered particular benefits.
According to the prosecution, in that meeting Quijano negotiated with gang members in exchange for them voting for him in the 2014 presidential elections.
For Carlos Reyes, Head of fraction of ARENA, in the first reactions he indicated that “justice had been done, it is the most important thing, the majority said that there was no formation of a cause, well, because we believed in the innocence of Norman Quijano” .
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