The head of the Criminal Court number 1 of Zaragoza has sentenced Ignacio Magaña, a socialist councilor in the City Council of the Aragonese capital, to pay a fine of 3,600 euros, for a crime against road safety, for driving without points on the license .

Magaña was already fined in 2020 with 1,900 euros and the withdrawal of four points from the license for driving without insurance and speeding. He was caught by radar when he was going 68 kilometers per hour in a zone limited to 30.

The aforementioned councilor had joined the socialist municipal group a few months ago after being acquitted of a case of gender violence against his wife, for which he was arrested on November 11, 2021 and later tried.

More recently, the PSOE decided to once again suspend Magaña from militancy and open an information file on him after he was caught on March 5 driving without points through the streets of Zaragoza.

Local Police officers stopped him at dawn in a routine control when they saw that he was carrying out an incorrect maneuver. When comparing his data, the agents verified that his driver's license had been withdrawn since 2020 due to loss of points. For this reason, proceedings were opened against him as the alleged perpetrator of a crime against road safety and he was summoned for a speedy trial.

The councilor could have settled for a fine of 2,280 euros, 12 months at eight euros a day, which the Prosecutor's Office proposed and thus reduce the punishment by a third. That is, he would have paid 1,520 euros instead of the 3,600 imposed by the judge. However, Magaña claimed that there had to be an error in the data, because he had taken the course to recover the points.. He did not want to accept the sentence and preliminary proceedings were opened that culminated in the ordinary criminal trial, which was held on March 20.

During the hearing, the mayor presented a certificate issued by a driving school to attest that he had passed the course with “use”. And in his defense he claimed that he “had no idea” that he had to take an exam.

As published this Wednesday by Heraldo de Aragón, the judge notes, in his sentence, that Magaña never submitted to this last test and that, therefore, he was still not authorized to drive.

Regarding the sentence imposed, upon learning of his salary at the City Council, the prosecutor decided to propose a higher fine, 3,600 euros, which is what the judge finally decided.

Trial for gender violence

Ignacio Magaña, 44, had rejoined the PSOE municipal group last October after being acquitted of a case of gender violence. During the trial, held behind closed doors, the mayor defended his innocence and assured that he had never mistreated his wife and explained that his complaint was solely due to a separation process. However, the woman reiterated what she said before the National Police, who came to classify the case as a high risk level in the Viogen system.

She confessed that the most serious event and the one in which she felt “the most fear” would have occurred the previous winter when she wanted to leave the family home.

As recounted in the complaint, “Ignacio reacted aggressively by pushing me against the bed, preventing me from moving by grabbing my neck. He went to the kitchen, took a knife, put it in my chest and told me that over his dead body he was going to get out of there.”

The councilman was discharged as a member of the PSOE, but did not resign his seat in the City Council and continued his work in plenary sessions and commissions as a non-attached member. Once the court ruling was known, he requested his reinstatement to the socialist ranks, following the guidelines of the party’s code of ethics. After being accepted by the national leadership, the municipal group formally requested his return to the general secretariat of the plenary of the City Council of Zaragoza.

When the incident of driving without points transcended, some voices, including the mayor of the Aragonese capital, Jorge Azcón, said that if Magaña was convicted should leave the City Council. The mayor then announced that he had no intention of resigning from office or handing over his seat.