The judge denies Ábalos' last-minute request for a change of lawyer: "It's a legal fraud."

MadridThe day before his fourth Supreme Court summons, José Luis Ábalos not only saw Leopoldo Puente, the investigating judge in the alleged corruption case, deny him a last-minute change of lawyer, but also received a warning that he risks being remanded in custody. In a ruling issued Tuesday, Puente warned him that a brief hearing would be held after hearing him. For now, the only suspect in the case to whom this precautionary measure has been applied is Santos Cerdán, former number three of the PSOE (Spanish Socialist Workers' Party). In the case of Ábalos and his former advisor, Koldo García, Puente has limited himself to ordering the revocation of passports and biweekly court appearances. The former Minister of Transport will enter the Supreme Court aware that this situation will be reviewed and, therefore, could change.

The investigating judge's warning is included in a ruling that rejects Ábalos's request to the Supreme Court, less than 24 hours before the appearance, to assign him a court-appointed attorney. This Monday afternoon, less than two days before the 10 a.m. summons this Wednesday, Ábalos informed the high court that he was resigning from the attorney who had defended him until now, José Anibal Álvarez. Hence the request for a court-appointed attorney. This move, in the investigating judge's opinion, constitutes "legal fraud." In the ruling, the judge rejects the resignation and upholds the summons, forcing the former minister to appear with the attorney he had resigned.

Puente does not see justification for this "untimely" change by Ábalos and believes that the former minister's objective was to provoke the suspension of his appearance due to the risk of imprisonment, because accepting the resignation at the time he submitted it would have left postponing the summons as the only option. The judge argues that "it would not be possible in such a short period of time" to assign a public defender and, "even if it were," given the "magnitude and complexity" of the case, he would not have been able to "effectively assist" him tomorrow. The investigating judge also considers that Anibal Álvarez has carried out his duties "in an objectively irreproachable manner." "The right to freely appoint a lawyer cannot be considered unlimited," argues Puente. Ábalos had assured X in a message that, despite the resignation of Anibal Álvarez's defense, he maintained the "willingness to comply" with the appearance. An intention that Puente has not believed.

Why was Ábalos left without a lawyer? According to a statement sent to the Supreme Court on Monday, the former Minister of Transport announced in a letter to the Supreme Court that he decided to resign from his former lawyer due to "irreconcilable differences" with him. "Far from being a one-time circumstance, they have become a constant," stated the letter, in which Ábalos explained that he has been forced to "prepare his statement alone." The "irreversible deterioration" of trust between the two is explained by growing disagreements in the defense strategy. For example, Ábalos's lawyer had recommended that he resign from his position as a deputy in the mixed group in Congress to remove himself from the jurisdiction and thus send the case to the National Court. An option that the former Socialist minister rejects.

Legal sources cited by Efe, however, maintain that the lawyer decided to leave the former minister's defense because he learned that Ábalos held meetings with other lawyers last week without informing him. In any case, the investigating judge is now giving Ábalos three business days to appoint a new lawyer. If he doesn't, he will be assigned one ex officio. Thus, until the former minister formally notifies Anibal Álvarez's replacement or this deadline expires, Puente will not recognize the resignation.

The PSOE (Spanish Socialist Workers' Party) distances itself from the case.

Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez has freed the PSOE from the report by the Central Operative Unit (UCO) of the Civil Guard, which led to this new summons of Ábalos. In an interview on Cadena SER, Sánchez reiterated that "there is no evidence of irregular financing" by the Socialists and argued that the only "disagreements" mentioned in the report are related to Ábalos's personal accounts. The former Minister of Transport will have to explain where the 95,000 euros allocated for personal expenses came from, which, according to the UCO, have an opaque origin and were managed by Koldo within the framework of black accounting. The following Thursday, it will be the turn of former advisor Koldo García, who is summoned to testify this Thursday at 10:00 a.m.