The Supreme Court has ordered this Wednesday the provisional imprisonment without bail of José Luis Ábalos and his former advisor Koldo García, in response to the request of the Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office and the popular accusations led by the PP, which warned of a “high risk of flight” now that both face up to 30 years in prison for the alleged collection of commissions on contracts for masks awarded during the pandemic. The decision marks the first time that an active member of parliament has been imprisoned, a precedent that marks the beginning of the trial.
The Supreme Court accepts the thesis of the Public Prosecutor’s Office and the accusations of the accusers
According to legal sources, the instructor Leopoldo Puente reviewed this morning the precautionary measures that weighed on the investigated -withdrawal of passport and periodic appearances- before deciding their imprisonment. The Prosecutor’s Office, according to the same sources, stressed that the seriousness of the sentences increases the probability of flight, an argument that the magistrate assumes in the order. At this point, it is important to remember that the Public Prosecutor’s Office had already hardened its position in recent reports, as other decisions of the Supreme Court have shown.
Ábalos arrives dejected and assures the judge that he will not flee
Ábalos was the first to arrive at the high court – at 9.12 a.m., almost an hour before -, visibly affected, according to sources present, who described him as “shattered”. The ex-minister took the floor at the end of the hearing to deny any intention to flee: “I have no money and nowhere to go,” he said. During the wait, they explain, he smoked nervously in the courtyards of the old palace, a detail that some sources frame in his state of mind.
The defense alleges violation of political representation
His lawyer, Carlos Bautista, stressed that there is no flight risk and warned that sending a deputy to prison without a firm conviction could be a violation of the right to political representation, an argument that the defense had already raised in previous phases of the proceedings. In addition, he argued that an eventual imprisonment could be interpreted as “pressure to force a collaborative statement”, alluding to the case of the businessman Víctor de Aldama, who confessed after spending weeks in prison.
Koldo insists on his family roots
Koldo García has appeared at the scheduled time and accompanied by his lawyer, Leticia de la Hoz, who unsuccessfully questioned the competence of the Supreme Court and defended that his client has strong family roots -an older mother and a younger daughter-, which would prevent any escape. The former advisor also took the floor: “I’m not going anywhere,” he said, adding: “We all have the right to learn little by little,” a phrase that some present interpreted as an indirect admission of mistakes.
Prosecutor’s strong plea: “No power can evade criminal prosecution”.
The chief anti-corruption prosecutor, Alejandro Luzón, was particularly forceful in the hearing regarding Ábalos, pointing out that “no power of the State has the right to escape criminal action” and recalling that, in his opinion, “belonging to a Government allowed the crimes under investigation to be committed”. According to sources present, Luzón stressed that Justice is represented “with a blindfold on the eyes”, insisting on the need to apply the same criteria to all those investigated.
Indictments and penalties requested
On November 3, Judge Puente proposed to try Ábalos, Koldo and Aldama for the alleged collection of commissions linked to the company Soluciones de Gestión, which was awarded contracts for health material in the middle of the pandemic. The Public Prosecutor’s Office requests 24 years for Ábalos and 19 and a half years for Koldo for crimes of criminal organization, bribery, influence peddling, embezzlement and insider trading, as well as a fine of 3.9 million euros. The popular accusations, for their part, raise the request to 30 years, adding prevarication and false documentation.
The case maintains direct connections with the Balearic Islands, where the Government presided by Francina Armengol awarded in 2020 a 3.7 million euro contract to Soluciones de Gestión – the same company investigated in the plot – for the purchase of medical equipment during the pandemic. The masks turned out to be unfit for health use and the formal claim for the amount was not initiated until 2023, a delay that has generated demands for clarification and political debate in the islands.
Aldama’s situation
Both prosecution and accusations claim 7 years in prison for Aldama, who is mitigating for his “confession”, key -according to sources of the case- to uncover the alleged plot that would point to the former secretary of Organization of the PSOE Santos Cerdán.
