Ábalos maintains that he has suffered a "political" and "predetermined" trial

MadridJosé Luis Ábalos does not resign in the face of the 24-year prison sentence for corruption and has denounced, from Soto del Real, that the Supreme Court's ruling was "predetermined". In an audio recording accessed by Cadena SER, the former Minister of Transport explains a version of events opposed to the one Pedro Sánchez presented this Wednesday in his appearance in Congress. Unlike the Spanish president, who described the one that was his right-hand man as a "flagrant and very serious case of corruption," Ábalos maintains that it is a "political" cause.

The also former organization secretary of the PSOE argues that the commissioner Víctor de Aldama, who will not go to prison because he confessed, "has not denounced anyone who did not have a political character". "Everything has very clear political implications," Ábalos states in the recording. The former Minister of Transport, in a message on X, on the account that publishes messages in his name, announces that he will request the annulment of a sentence that has "disappointed" him due to the "voluminous" penalties it imposes on him and his former advisor, Koldo García. Sources from his defense consulted by the ARA confirm that they will file an incident of annulment before the Supreme Court and that, subsequently, if it is rejected, they will request protection from the Constitutional Court.

The "disproportion" and "the reward for the unrepentant informant," he states, are elements that "kill democracy." Ábalos also denounces that, in his opinion, facing this trial without guarantees, they could have avoided the "physical and psychological torture" that attending it from the penitentiary center has meant for him. "It is humiliating to arrive there handcuffed daily," he complained. Koldo García found himself in the same situation, who has also requested the nullity of a sentence that condemns him to 19 years in prison and which he criticizes, among other things, for the credibility it gives to Aldama. His defense has also requested its suspension until the incident is resolved.