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Eight months after the starting gun in the first macro-trial of Commissioner José Manuel Villarejo for the case against him in the National Court, it was Tuesday the turn of the conclusions and with them, also of the surprises.
The Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office announced several modifications regarding the indictments with which it attended the beginning of the oral hearing and that go through notable reductions in sentences for some defendants. One of the most striking is that of Gemma Alcalá, a woman from Villarejo, and who sat on the bench with a horizon of 83 years and three months in jail for two of the three separate pieces that are being judged: «Iron», the espionage to a law firm on behalf of a firm of its competence; and «Land», the espionage between members of the Cereceda family, heir to the real estate empire Procisa.
In the third, “Painter”, an extortion attempt on a former judge with compromising videos, she was not involved. The Prosecutor’s Office places it as part of the “criminal organization” of the commissioner, although this crime is still being investigated and is not the subject of this trial. She was asking for 83 years and three months for her participation in the crimes of bribery and disclosure of secrets, among others, of which her husband is accused.
However, yesterday the scenario for Gemma Alcalá changed. According to the final conclusions of the Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office, to which ABC had access, Finally, a sentence of 2 years and 6 months is requested for her for the “Iron” case and another 2 and a half years for “Land”. Five years in prison compared to more than 83. The fine, of course, is also low. Anti-corruption has gone from requesting more than 230,000 euros to an amount of around 36,000, 18,000 for each piece.
It was the first consequence of the modification of the accusation against the Commissioner himself. The Prosecutor’s Office withdrew the charges for active bribery, influence peddling and various disclosure and discovery of secrets for which he has been accusing individually, to five years in prison each. this rIt reverberated directly on the horizon of his wife’s sorrows, that he no longer appears as a participant in these crimes and thus, his sentence is ostensibly reduced.
In their defense they make another reading and speak of “instrumentalization” of the public accusation to make a dent in the commissioner. The fact is that Villarejo’s son goes from facing 14 years in prison to one year minus one day. And the commissioner himself also sees his horizon of sorrow diminish. He started from 109 years and 10 months for the three projects on trial. Prosecutors leave him at 83 years and six months, with the aggravating circumstances of those who have criminal activity as a public official. The same with the fine, which only in one of those crimes that the Prosecutor’s Office now withdraws was 450,000 euros.
Drop charges against a sub-inspector and a Treasury official
In the specific case of “Iron”, it also highlights that Anti-corruption has withdrawn its accusation against Police Deputy Inspector Javier Fernández and Treasury official Antonio Chaparro, both on the bench. It is taken for granted that they accessed reserved data and provided it to the people of Villarejo, but “it does not appear” in neither case, that they acted “in concert” with them or that they knew that this information was “commercialized”.
Here, as in «Land» and «Pintor», it has been taken into account that the commissioner’s clients recognized the facts and mitigating sentences are applied to them. Also in «Pintor» the main victim expressed that he forgave the revelation of secrets, although the Prosecutor’s Office maintains the accusation for the attempted extortionpublic crime.
Finally, in the conclusions, one of the main defendants, Commissioner Enrique García Castaño, for whom the trial was suspended for health reasons until it is decided whether it can be held, comes out of the equation.
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George is Digismak’s reported cum editor with 13 years of experience in Journalism