The former ministerial advisor Koldo García has asked the Supreme Court for his acquittal in the trial for the alleged irregularities in the purchase of masks during the pandemic, a case in which the former Minister of Transport José Luis Ábalos and the businessman Víctor de Aldama are also accused. The defense argues that García did not commit any crime because he did not participate in the decision to purchase nor did he maintain a contractual relationship with the company awarded the contract, according to the brief presented to the high court.
In her brief, to which Europa Press has had access, the former advisor’s lawyer stresses that the company Soluciones de Gestión, considered the epicenter of the alleged scheme, acted without the direct intervention of her client, so that the alleged facts “do not constitute any crime”. The defense insists that García’s actions were limited to logistical tasks inherent to the exceptional context of the pandemic, marked by the scarcity of health material at international level.
Request for key political witnesses
Koldo García has requested that the former Minister of Health and current president of the Generalitat of Catalonia, Salvador Illa; the Minister of the Interior, Fernando Grande-Marlaska, and the president of the Congress and former president of the Balearic Islands, Francina Armengol, testify as witnesses. The defense considers that their testimonies are essential to clarify the functioning of the mechanisms for the purchase of health material during the health crisis.
Regarding Illa, the lawyer argues that he was the highest health authority during the pandemic and that his statement would prove that the material acquisition channels were not “assaulted” by a plot, but that they responded to criteria of urgent need and availability of stock in a collapsed market. The defense wants Illa to confirm that García’s intervention was an inter-ministerial collaboration and not an illicit interference.
As for Grande-Marlaska, the defense intends to dismantle the accusation of an alleged lobbying capacity of García, since contracts of the Ministry of the Interior and processes in Correos are cited as examples of that influence. Therefore, it considers it “imperative” that the minister explain the actual decision-making process in his department.
Regarding Armengol, Koldo García requests her appearance to disprove the existence of an alleged binding order or recommendation addressed to the Balearic autonomous administration. According to the defense, only his testimony can prove that the Balearic Islands acted autonomously, based on technical reports and not on a network of favors.
Criticism of Victor de Aldama
In the same document, the defense of Koldo García attacks the businessman Víctor de Aldama, whom he describes as a “procedural platypus” and accuses of lying when he affirms that he agreed to share with Ábalos and García approximately 50% of the commissions obtained. The lawyer argues that these accusations are a speculative construction without evidentiary support, violating the presumption of innocence of the former advisor.
In addition, the defense requests that Aldama’s interrogation be conducted first and under a regime similar to that of a witness, given the nature of his statements and his interest in the proceedings.
Penalties requested and more witnesses
The prosecution requests 24 years in prison for José Luis Ábalos, 19 and a half years for Koldo García -both in pre-trial detention since November 27- and seven years for Víctor de Aldama. For their part, the popular accusations, led by the PP, raise the request to 30 years in prison for the former minister and his former advisor.
The defense has also demanded the appearance of other businessmen and public officials, including Juan Carlos Cueto, alleged commissioner of the case; Claudio Rivas, linked to the hydrocarbon scheme; the former president of Adif Isabel Pardo de Vera; the former general director of Roads Javier Herrero; the president of Correos, Pedro Saura; the former CEO of Air Europa Javier Hidalgo, and the former director of the CNI Paz Esteban, among others. A list of witnesses that anticipates a trial of great political and judicial complexity.
