Ábalos denies everything and for now does not incriminate Cerdán.

MadridMany saw this Monday a thinner José Luis Ábalos, with a sour face, and he himself explained to the Supreme Court judge investigating him, Leopoldo Puente, that he is going through a very intense personal situation. Therefore, the intention was not to testify, but the former minister ended up responding to his willingness—he says—to cooperate with justice. The movements of the last few hours suggested that Ábalos could acknowledge the plot—or at least part of it—since in an interview on Thursday on Cadena SER, he criticized the former number 3 of the PSOE, Santos Cerdán, and his former advisor Koldo García—"They used me," he claimed—but he has denied everything, even this case in another dimension. Both the former minister and Koldo García, who has invoked his right not to testify, remain on provisional release after their appearance.

Both have entered the Supreme Court on their own two feet, amid great media expectation and heckled by a small group of people—a dozen at most—who had breakfast paid for by the ultra-Catholic association Hazte Oír at the bar in front of the court. They expected not to see them leave, but rather to be sent to prison, but the request of the popular accusations led by the PP have not had the support of the Anti-Corruption Prosecutor's Office or the magistrate, who has maintained their obligation to appear in court every two weeks and the confiscation of their passports. Throughout the morning, shouts such as "Pimps, give back the money" and several insults to the Spanish president, Pedro Sánchez, until at noon it was confirmed that Ábalos and Koldo García were released and they left without making any statements to the media. the UCO "the indications of criminality against Ábalos appear seriously consolidated", according to the order issued this Monday. Mr. Ábalos, like Mr. García Izaguirre, could have obtained illicit economic benefits in exchange for the improper awarding of public works, arranged with third parties for this purpose", it emphasizes.

Manipulated recordings?

Ábalos categorically denied having received any money from contract awards and stated that he was not involved in contracting, according to sources present at his statement. He has repeatedly stated that he does not recognize himself in the recordings, which were made public two weeks ago and which discuss the distribution of commissions related to Ministry of Transport contracts in different territories. The current member of Congress asserted that he was unaware that Koldo García was recording him and emphasized that in many of the recordings, what is attributed to him is unintelligible. When asked about this, he stated that he does not know if the audio recordings were processed or manipulated, that they are not true, and he even said that it is not his voice. In response to the insistence of the judge and the chief prosecutor of the Anti-Corruption Office, Alejandro Luzón, he said he did not want to go into details until he had confirmation that they were true. However, the former minister has not been entirely consistent and has acknowledged that he had a problem with Koldo, which is reflected in the conversations.

Ábalos's denial of the charges against him has meant he hasn't cast any light on the new suspect in the case, Santos Cerdán, who was already present at the interrogations through his lawyer, former CUP MP in the Parliament, Benet Salellas. The former minister has admitted that Cerdán had no reason to influence the Ministry of Transport's contract awards because he wasn't involved, and has only admitted that a foundation belonging to his son received money from Servinabar, the company allegedly shared by the former PSOE organizational secretary and a friend of his, Antxon Alonso, and that it is believed to be imported into Madrid from Navarre. Precisely, part of the strategy of the former Socialist number 3 involves denying that he had any stake in this company, which is said to have links with Acciona, which the UCO also implicates in the plot.

Without a pact

After approximately an hour of questioning, Ábalos sought to conclude and stated that he was exercising his right not to testify. He did not respond to the public accusations or to the defense attorneys, not even to his own. Legal sources report that he is "tired" of responding. His lawyer met last Thursday with the anti-corruption prosecutor, Alejandro Luzón, who told him that he could offer him nothing upfront in exchange for admitting the facts. Sources from the prosecution's office told ARA that if mitigating circumstances are necessary, they will apply them after the fact. On Sunday, Ábalos and Koldo García met. The hypothesis that Ábalos would have thrown in the towel and admitted the facts was refuted by his questioning this Monday. It has also been proven that he and his former advisor have not agreed on any joint action, because Koldo García has chosen not to respond, especially since he changed defense counsel four days ago and had not yet been able to review the entire case file.