The political and police leadership of the Interior Ministry under the PP government is said to have illegally spied on Podemos and its leaders for at least two years (2015-2016), according to several extant summaries from the National Court of Justice. although it also examines other issues and in no case has this irregular activity been investigated. This persecution of Podemos without judicial support resulted in reports, many of which were made with false data that the police chiefs and internal politicians had previously passed on to certain media and which, according to the evidence collected, were later prosecuted only in rare cases. until now. The cases against Podemos based on these reports were archived because they turned out to be false or did not contain sufficient evidence. Now the judge of the National Court, Santiago Pedraz, has before him a complaint from Podemos and must decide whether to investigate the persecution of this party through the so-called sewers of the state.
Judge Manuel García-Castellón, who is investigating the Kitchen case – the illegal espionage of former PP treasurer Luis Bárcenas to steal evidence that could incriminate Mariano Rajoy's government for illegally financing the party – was arrested a year ago in the recorded summary of the transcription of some conversations that the then Secretary of State for Security, Francisco Martínez, had via WhatsApp with the main police chiefs. In this exchange of messages, numerous alleged illegal police operations against Podemos leaders were discussed. Last October, this group filed a complaint against the former heads of the Interior Ministry, denouncing this persecution and providing documents proving the crimes allegedly committed. This evidence comes from summaries examined before the National Court in the so-called “Tandem case”, the police mafia that Commissioner José Manuel Villarejo led for 20 years.
Judge Santiago Pedraz, to whom the complaint was forwarded, forwarded it to Court No. 6, headed by Manuel-García Castellón, considering that the events reported were partially consistent with the Kitchen case, already investigated by his partner . Podemos appealed this decision to the Criminal Chamber, claiming that García-Castellón had expressed hostility towards his former leader Pablo Iglesias, whom he tried to indict in the Dina case. In his judicial investigation, Judge García-Castellón collects a lot of evidence of these allegedly illegal actions by the police against Podemos, but he has never investigated them.
The Criminal Chamber finally decided last Friday that the responsibility to hear the complaint lies with Santiago Pedraz. If this judge admits this, it would be the first time that the National Court has opened an investigation into two years of police persecution without judicial protection of political opponents of the PP during the term of Mariano Rajoy's government.
Podemos' complaint describes numerous police operations against this political group. Many of these facts have been published by EL PAÍS in the last two years. These include, among others, the following:
1. The police files of the “69” of Podemos
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In the parliamentary elections in December 2015, the PP lost its absolute majority. Podemos won 69 MPs in its first parliamentary election and was key to seizing power from the PP. In January 2016, the Secretary of State for Security, Francisco Martínez, assigned a special task to the Chief Commissioner of the Central Operational Support Unit (UCAO), Enrique García Castaño, via WhatsApp. The conversation appears in the Kitchen case summary:
Martínez. It would be very interesting to know if Podemos had a history… And whether they dealt with nationalist themes, themes of violent extremism, etc.
Garcia Castano. Josetxu Arrieta is the only one who belongs to ETA. The last one that appears in the photos…
Martínez. And the rest nothing?
Garcia Castano. I look at it again, but I don't think so. […].
Garcia Castano. German's bastard [Rodríguez Castiñeira, jefe de la Brigada Provincial de Información] He tells me this this afternoon because all 69 are worth watching, but you have to watch them individually.
2. Report by Pablo Iglesias SA, archived
In 2016, police leaked to certain media outlets a report entitled “Pablo Iglesias Sociedad Anónima (PISA),” which attempted to denounce irregularities by the then leader of Podemos and his party, according to records seized by Commissioner José Manuel Villarejo and the WhatsApp messages sent by Francisco Martínez. . Interior took this police maneuver one step further and reported the matter to the Court of Auditors for alleged illegal financing. But this body filed the complaint. Other lawsuits have also been filed in court – one of them by the right-wing extremist union Clean Hands.
Garcia Castano. What is there is enough to cause a scandal, even if he says everything is legal… This outcast [Pablo Iglesias] How did you live? Why so much money? Who subsidized them? to what end? What makes Iran take this step, a country friendly to Venezuela, a hellish fight.
Martínez. And is there also crime in addition to political scandal?
Garcia Castano. Well, I don't know anything about the tax question…
Former Secretary of State for Security Francisco Martínez and former Interior Minister Jorge Fernandez Díaz in a meeting during his time in the ministry in March 2016. Luis Sevllano Arribas
3. The CEPS Foundation and Venezuela. “Three down on the cover”; “Applause”
The Interior Ministry, led by Jorge Fernández Díaz, leaked information about the funds paid by the Venezuelan government to the CEPS Foundation, where some of its key executives worked before the creation of Podemos. The Secretary of State for Security punctually followed the results of the leaks in El Mundo and ABC and applauded the journalists who explained to him how this information would be published.
The world. “3 at the bottom of the cover. The Podemos-affiliated foundation pursued the press for Chávez.”
Martínez. Applause. Did anyone remember ABC?
The world. No shit, we wear the same thing.
Martínez. It's not the same, but they are also CEPS reports. But others. There is a lot of mobilization. Hahaha.
4. The incorrect payment to Iglesias in the Grenadines
OkDiario published information leaked from the Interior Ministry, according to conversations between the foreign minister and the chief police chief, in which Pablo Iglesias was accused of committing fraud in 2014 through an account in his name at the Europ. Pacific Bank claimed to have collected $275,000 from the Venezuelan regime. in the tax haven of the Grenadines. The deputy head of police operations, Eugenio Pino, reported this operation to his political boss Francisco Martínez.
Jaw. They're looking for the check.
Martínez. Well, better, because journalists are starting to say it's bad. The Attorney General already has it. It seems that he will open the proceedings. Are you still convinced it's good?
Jaw. Complete. Do not hesitate.
The bank document turned out to be false and the Attorney General never opened a case. The bank issued a statement: “Euro Pacific Bank has neither maintained an account for this individual nor received a transfer from any of the financial institutions or sources mentioned in the article.” Furthermore, the bank does not, under any circumstances, maintain accounts for politically exposed persons (PEP ) and also does not accept payments from Venezuela.”
In its complaint, Podemos describes other similar incidents and accuses the high-ranking interior officials under the PP mandate (ministers, foreign ministers and several commissioners) of the crimes of disclosing secrets, embezzling public funds, administrative subterfuge and falsifying official documents of a false official one document and a criminal organization.
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