In his recent speech in August when the president of spain addressed the spanish parliament in an attempt to dissociate himself from the Barcenas corruption scandal, these are the words he uttered (translated):
The Right to Lie by Mariano Rajoy.
“As you know, in the spanish penal system the witnesses, who are obliged under oath to tell the truth, if they do not do so, commit an offence and could end up in prison. The accused, however, has the right to remain silent and, even, lie in self defence. The accused has the right to lie, hide the truth; deny the facts; fantasize; pass the blame onto others, beat around the bush, invent excuses, pretexts, justifications... In one word, the accused has every right to defend himself however he likes, including changing his statement as often as he wishes”.
Sounds familiar??? In a Gibraltar context let us see how his words fit in.
“The right to remain silent”. We wish they would!!!
“Lie in self defence”. Persistently, rather clumsily and crudely trying to defend the indefensible. They keep saying Gibraltar and our waters are spanish!
“Deny the facts”. Experts at it, they keep denying they ceded Gibraltar in perpetuity and that they signed UNCLOS/CONVEMAR etc etc etc, and renege on everything they have signed, unless it is not so much about denying the facts but illiteracy.
“Fantasize”. Yes, they fantasize that Gibraltarians deep down really want to be ruled by fascist dictators and corrupt politicians.
“Pass the blame onto others”. All the time, they keep blaming the United Kingdom for something that is out of their hands because it is GIBRALTAR that has the only, and final say. “Deny the facts” could also apply here.
“Beat around the bush”. You bet, verbose and tiresome in the extreme. All those lengthy, mind boggling flawed versions of the Treaty of Utrecht full of gibberish and claptrap! Could be that the dastardly plot is to bore us into submission.
“Invent excuses”. Spot on! They invent a fishing dispute when it is the sovereignty stupid....
“Pretexts”. Masters at it! They expect the world to believe that the frontier queues are to control smuggling or whatever else they invent. Why create queues coming INTO Gibraltar?!!! No cameras to “monitor the situation” I suppose! This pretext must be the most outrageous and ridiculous of all.
Not surprising they do not want EU monitors at the frontier to see how “professionally” the queues are being handled. According to a spokesman for the Guardia Civil in one of the TV debates, he said that they have to bring their own torches and screwdrivers from home because the State does not provide any equipment for them. And then the spanish ministers go around saying the checks are carried out with the utmost professionalism!!!
“Justifications”. Sure, leaving people stranded in inhumane 8 hour queues purely out of spite, revenge and to frustrate is a valid justification?
And his final statement: “In one word, the accused has every right to defend himself however he likes, inclu
ding changing his statement as often as he wishes”. One word he says, he cannot even count! Eighteen words not one, tell the truth!!!
Extract of the original speech:
“Señorías,
Como ustedes saben, en el sistema penal español los testigos, que están obligados bajo juramento a
decir la verdad, si no lo hacen, incurren en un delito y pueden acabar en la cárcel. Al acusado, sin
embargo, se le permite no declarar e, incluso, mentir en defensa propia. El acusado tiene derecho a
mentir, a esconder la verdad; a negar los hechos; a fantasear; a transferir su culpa a otros; a rodearse de circunloquios; a inventar excusas, pretextos, justificaciones… En una palabra, tiene todo el derecho a defenderse como mejor le parezca, incluso a cambiar de versión cuantas veces quiera”.
Was it wise for him to be so explicit about the Right to Lie in the spanish parliament?!
Isabella Caruana
Gibraltar
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