Cerdán will defend himself by attacking the Civil Guard's investigation.

MadridOne of the most striking images of the Spanish legislature will unfold this Monday when Santos Cerdán, until recently the number three in the PSOE (Spanish Socialist Workers' Party), enters through the same door that the leaders of Junts and Esquerra pel Procés entered years ago, now granted amnesty thanks to a law he himself was tasked with negotiating with Carles Puigdemont in Brussels. Spanish politics sometimes surprises with scripts that seem like science fiction. Or not so much? In this context of suspicion about the justice system's action against Pedro Sánchez, some believe the spotlight has been placed on Cerdán because he played the role he did in this legislature.

It remains to be seen whether Sánchez's former right-hand man at Ferraz and his defense, led by lawyer Benet Salellas—a former CUP deputy in the Parliament—will develop this idea in the Supreme Court. For now, the strategy does not aim to question the investigating magistrate, Leopoldo Puente, or the chief anti-corruption prosecutor, Alejandro Luzón, but it does aim to defuse the report from the Central Operative Unit (UCO) that incriminates Cerdán. The document submitted to the high court on June 5, which includes conversations in which former minister José Luis Ábalos, his former advisor, Koldo García, and Cerdán allegedly discussed the distribution of commissions derived from contract awards, is for now the only basis for the accusation against the former Navarrese politician.

One of the most unusual aspects of this case is that the audio recordings released in recent days are not police wiretaps in the context of an investigation, but rather Koldo García recorded conversations while allegedly committing a crime. In other words, like a new José Manuel Villarejo. Former minister Ábalos already stated last week that he considered these conversations could be manipulated because they did not reflect reality and, in some cases, even maintained that I didn't recognize his voiceEverything indicates that Cerdán will follow a similar line of defense and question the technique of the audio recordings, as well as their content. "I don't want anyone to talk about this, enough!" Cerdán said in one of the recordings. According to his defense, the conclusions reported by the Civil Guard throughout the report cannot be drawn from what has been said. In short, he managed the illegal commissions collected by Ábalos and Koldo. But for now, there is no trace of money transfers or bribes that directly affect him, the defense maintains.

Another of the Civil Guard's accusations against the former Socialist organization secretary is that he was co-owner of the company Servinabar, which is believed to be at the origin of the corruption scheme in Navarre. The UCO (University of Navarre) has submitted to the court a private contract between Cerdán and Joseba Antxón, by which the former purchased 45% of the company for €6,000, although his defense emphasizes that this agreement had no legal validity. Furthermore, it maintains that the company has repeatedly communicated that Cerdán has not held any shares in Servinabar, and that this is also recorded in the commercial registry. His defense team has indicated in recent days that he will provide explanations and relevant context regarding this contract in his statement.

The statement in estriming

Unlike Ábalos, who only responded to the judge and the prosecutor, and Koldo, who did not testify, the former number 3 of the PSOE intends to answer all the questions posed to him to "prove his innocence." So much so that his lawyer requested that the Supreme Court provide the appropriate technical means to broadcast the statement. He could have witnessed it from inside the courtroom. The investigating judge rejected this due to the confidential nature of the criminal procedure law that criminal investigations provide, but Salellas requested it, taking into account that secrecy has already been broken, given the public interest in this case and the fact that information is continually becoming known. "It is not a form of transparency, but rather a parallel trial that has already compromised the fundamental right to the presumption of innocence and due process with all due guarantees," the lawyer complained. In fact, Cerdán has resigned from all his positions in Congress and the PSOE due to the leak of a report from the UCO (Central University of Catalonia) that should have been confidential.