Cerdán's defense team denies the risk of destroying evidence: "They're using prison as a tool of coercion."

MadridSantos Cerdán has been in the Soto del Real penitentiary for three weeks now. Entered on June 30, after he testified as a suspect and the Anti-Corruption Prosecutor's Office requested provisional detention without bail for him. This Tuesday, a court composed of Pablo Llarena, the investigator in the Proceso case, and judges Juan Ramón Berdugo and Antonio del Moral, who served on the court that tried the pro-independence leaders in the Supreme Court, heard arguments for and against the decision of the investigator in the Cerdán case, Leopoldo Puente. In a hearing held behind closed doors to review the precautionary measure, the former Socialist leader's defense team denied the risk of destruction of evidence, which the Anti-Corruption Prosecutor's Office is using to request his imprisonment. "They are using prison as a tool of coercion," Cerdán's lawyers denounced, according to legal sources.

The former number three of the PSOE (Spanish Socialist Workers' Party) is the only one of those under investigation who is not free. In the case of former Transport Minister José Luis Ábalos and his former advisor, Koldo García, Puente revoked their passports and requires them to appear in court every two weeks. Cerdán's defense team rejects this distinction and has demanded his release. One of the arguments they have used before the three judges—who have yet to announce their decision—is that there has been ample time, since the report from the Civil Guard's Central Operational Unit (UCO) that Cerdán mentioned was made public on June 16, to search the suspect's home and arrest him. This action has not yet been ordered by the investigating judge. "If there really was a risk of destroying evidence, why wasn't he arrested on June 17?" his lawyers have argued.

One of them is former CUP deputy in Parliament, Benet Salellas, who is familiar with both the Supreme Court and the trial judges. Salellas defended the former president of Òmnium Cultural, Jordi Cuixart, with a political line of defense. A strategy that bears similarities to the one he follows with Cerdán, despite the differences between the two cases. In the appeal filed by Cerdán's defense team with the Supreme Court, Salellas maintains that the former Socialist leader is the victim of a "general" and "prospective" case against him. He also emphasizes the "proven interest" of political parties such as the PP and Vox in seeing him behind bars. However, in the hearing, both Salellas and Cerdán's other lawyer, Jacobo Teijelo, presented legal arguments. However, they did point out that the imprisonment responds to a desire to exercise surveillance over their client, which they do not consider "normal."

Penitentiary Institutions Stop Surveillance

One example cited is the fact that the UCO has stepped up surveillance of Cerdán, even asking the Penitentiary Institutions to report who visits him and when, which they perceive as a violation of the right to defense and confidentiality in communications with his lawyers. However, this Tuesday, the Penitentiary Institutions informed the Supreme Court that they have decided to stop informing the UCO about these visits.

"We have gone from a presumption of innocence to a presumption of indecency," defense sources complained about the surveillance authorized by the judge. According to the lawyers of the man who, until a month ago, was Pedro Sánchez's right-hand man, the Anti-Corruption Prosecutor's Office is seeking to force a "confession" from their client, and in the appeal, they cite the background of Víctor de Aldama, also investigated as an alleged commissioner in other contracts related to Ábalos and Koldo. Aldama is the only person being investigated in this case, which occurred in Soto del Real (for another case, the hydrocarbon fraud case), and he was released after admitting to the facts related to the Koldo or Ábalos case.

Petition from the Commons

One of the main issues for Cerdán's defense is the audio recordings recorded by Koldo and included in the UCO report. Salellas and Teijelo question the veracity of the recordings, in which Cerdán is allegedly heard discussing the distribution of money with Ábalos and his former advisor, whom they also identify as a "possible police collaborator." In response to this argument, the Supreme Court will conduct a dumping of the contents of Koldo's three phones and recorder this Wednesday morning. The dumping of the devices can be supervised by the parties. The defense has complained that they have not had access to the originals so far. "They are not the best, objective, and independent evidence to use to agree to pretrial detention in a democratic criminal trial," says Salellas and Teijelo's brief.

Regarding the possibility that Koldo García was a Civil Guard collaborator, a hypothesis the judge has dismissed from the outset, there has been a politically motivated request. The Commons have filed a series of questions with the Spanish government to clarify his connection. They have requested the decorations, institutional contacts, and possible police protection that Koldo García may have received.

Cerdán's life in prison

The same sources from Cerdán's defense explained that their client has adapted to life in Soto del Real and is "in good spirits." He told them, they say, that for him "it's not so important when he gets out, but how." That is, "without subterfuge and maintaining his innocence." They also affirmed that he has a good relationship with the other inmates and shared Salellas' book with some of them. I accuse. The defense in political trials, which Cerdán is also reading.