Spaniard who led assault ruled eligible for office

Lt. Col. Antonio Tejero, who led last year's assault on the Spanish Cortes (parliament) and is now serving a 30-year sentence for his role in the aborted coup, may now enter the Cortes unarmed and in a business suit, Monitor contributor Ana Martinez-Soler reports.

A regional court overruled Thursday a Madrid electoral board's decision that denied Colonel Tejero the right to be a Cortes candidate for the newly founded Spanish Solidarity Party. The board had ruled he was still a military officer, despite his request for early retirement, and was thus banned from public office. Colonel Tejero's lawyer claimed his sentence for military rebellion is still not firm and that if elected, he will be immune from his 30-year sentence.