The lawyers of the Congress place Vito Quiles on the verge of an expulsion of up to three months for illicitly recording Zapatero

Vito Quiles committed two serious infractions of the Congress regulations for recording and disseminating images of the former President of the Government José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero without authorization inside the Lower House. This is concluded by the report prepared by the instructing lawyer of the file, which proposes suspending for “between 11 days and three months” the parliamentary credential of the ultra agitator. The Congress Bureau will study this Wednesday afternoon that sanction proposal, as well as another against the also far-right agitator Bertrand Ndongo for allegedly disturbing order during a Sumar press conference.

The report considers it proven that Quiles pursued Zapatero after an institutional act held in the Constitutional chamber of the Congress and recorded him with a mobile phone and a microphone up to the elevator despite not having authorization to make video recordings inside the premises. According to the instructor, an official from the Communication Directorate warned him shortly after that he could not capture or publish those images. Quiles then responded that he had only recorded audio, although he subsequently disseminated the video on his X profile.

The lawyer also emphasizes that the images were “illicitly obtained” and reproaches that Quiles not only published them, but also “commented on and annotated” them on social media. The instructor also understands that the agitator breached the internal regulations that oblige to respect the refusal of any person to answer questions or grant statements in Congress. That regulation expressly establishes that no follow-ups can occur when the questioned person decides to end the conversation.

The report recalls that this conduct was included in the documents that develop the reform approved last year by Congress to limit the activity of accredited ultra agitators in the Chamber, a modification that went ahead with the rejection of PP and Vox. Although the instructor admits that some of these behaviors are not directly typified in the regulations, he maintains that their non-compliance “cannot be ignored” within the disciplinary procedure opened against Quiles.

The text also details that Quiles tried to delay the processing of the file through different requests for extension of deadlines and formal allegations. His lawyer initially requested to verify the full identity of his client, as he appeared in some documents as Vito Quiles and not as Vito Zoppelari Quiles, and subsequently reported alleged formal defects in the procedure. The instructor granted up to three different deadlines to present allegations, although he ended up rejecting a fourth extension of 20 days. Against this sanction proposal, the lawyer proposes to archive another complaint related to some images taken of Pedro Sánchez, considering that “it cannot be proven with certainty” how that recording was made.