JUDGE MONTSERRAT, IN charge of the Operación Poniente corruption case in El Ejido, has decided to lift an order of judicial secrecy on part of the evidence submitted in the case.
The order means that twenty binders of evidence, 16.000 sheets of written evidence and statements, and a number of wiretap conversations will be released to the defence teams.
This, however, is just under a third of the total amount of evidence presented to the Judge.
This ruling means that the Public Prosecutor can submit this evidence when the case comes to trial, and the defence will have access to the data to construct an defense in court.
The Public Prosecutor has confirmed that Police sought and were granted authorisations to tap the phone conversations of the main ringleaders last April.
The mountain of evidence eventually led to the arrest of 23 people in El Ejido on charges of bribery, theft of public funds, trafficking of influences, money laundering and forgery.
Although most of these people have been released on bail until trial, the main ring leaders - including the Mayor of El Ejido - have been remanded without bail until trial after the judge declared them a flight risk.
Mayor Enciso has been moved to Granada prison, where he underwent an operation in Granada hospitals urology department at the end of February.
An application to have the Mayor released on compassionate grounds during the operation was rejected.
Judge Montserrat Peña has been relieved of other duties in order to concentrate on this case, and Judge David Villagrá, previously of Court Nº 1 in Vera, has been assigned to cases previously covered by the magistrate.
Judge Montserrat has recently been calling witnesses again to confirm witness statements.
To create link towards this article on your website,
copy and paste the text below in your page.
Preview :
| < Prev | Next > |
|---|
