Businessman Bartolomé Cursach arriving at the Audiencia de Palma this Friday EUROPA PRESS (EUROPA PRESS)
The first section of the Provincial Court of Palma has agreed to continue the trial in the Cursach case after rejecting most of the issues previously raised by the defense of the 17 accused, including the request for annulment of the entire trial over alleged irregularities in the teaching phase. In an order issued this Friday, the Chamber refuses to annul the trial over the largest police corruption plot uncovered in the islands, and also refuses to dismiss from the trial the private allegations representing businessmen, affected by suspected corrupt practices.
Two weeks ago, the court suspended sessions to consider the cascade of previous issues raised by the defenses of the 17 people under investigation. The lawyers argued that the entire investigation was contaminated by the lack of an impartial judge, as the head of the case and the then prosecutor would be prosecuted in the islands’ Supreme Court for irregularities in the investigation of this case. . In addition, the defendants’ defenses question the implementation of the private allegations, to which they allege actions aimed at defending the interests of the former investigators.
In the case of Auto, the court considers it “at the moment” not with concrete evidence that proves to be “with the necessary urgency” to declare a certain method of aggregation impartial. “With the allegations being made without hearing those affected, it makes it impossible for us to annul everything that has been done,” they claim. Because of this, they denied the request to have the case annulled and also refused to dismiss the private charges because while some filed their charges after the deadline, that does not prevent them from appearing as private charges as they had already personally in this state.
During Friday’s session, defense attorneys protested against the court’s dismissals. Since the processing of the previous issues has already been resolved, the court has given the testimonies of the persons under investigation in several days, starting next Monday, which will last until July 25, the date on which the proceedings will have a long break to complete in the to be resumed in October. The main defendant, nightlife businessman Bartolomé Cursach, is to testify as the first witness.
The trial began June 13 after nine years of investigations, three investigating magistrates, multiple pieces and dozens of investigations. 17 people are in the accused’s bench at Palma’s Provincial Court after six were acquitted in the first session of the trial. Sitting next to Cursach on the bench is the number two in his group, Bartolomé Sbert, 14 agents and managers of Palma’s local police and one civil servant. The defendants are charged with a variety of offenses ranging from belonging to a criminal organization to subterfuge, threats or divulging secrets. Cursach faces 18 months in prison for alleged crimes of membership in a criminal organization and subterfuge.
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