Pegasus, a Civil Guard indicted and deputies investigated: the irregularities Cerdán is denounced for in the Supreme Court.

BarcelonaSince the beginning of the Santos Cerdán case, the former number three of the PSOE (Spanish Socialist Workers' Party) has claimed that his case is a political one, but this Monday he went further: his defense team lists in a document before the Supreme Court, to which ARA has had access, all the irregularities they believe have occurred in the investigation. From the investigation of those with special jurisdiction without having previously requested a request for a waiver of immunity, as initially occurred with José Luis Ábalos and Cerdán himself, to the role of a Civil Guard officer, also charged in the Koldo case being pursued by the National Court.

For all these reasons, the defense team for the former PSOE leader, led by Benet Salellas and Jacobo Teijelo, is once again calling for their client's release and demanding new proceedings to clarify the terms of the investigation. "There is no property to be found, no chalet or hunting estate. No matter how much you search and investigate, you will always find Mr. Cerdán enjoying his leisure time at the municipal facilities in his town, an honest worker [...]. The credit given [to the investigators], seven months, to prove the flawed hypothesis of human rights violations," they conclude, demanding the immediate end of the pretrial detention. Now, what are the irregularities they are denouncing?

The origin of the case

The first thing Cerdán's lawyers point out is the origin of the case and how the investigation is being expanded to include those involved. While initially a case against former Transport Ministry advisor Koldo García and businessman Víctor de Aldama for the purchase of masks during the pandemic, the proceedings eventually shifted to the then-Minister José Luis Ábalos, who had immunity, and later to Cerdán, who also had immunity. The lawyers refer to a court order from February 2025 ordering the police to review, following Aldama's statement in another case in which he incriminates Socialist leaders, all of the businessman's telephone conversations and messages with those with immunity, including Cerdán and Minister Torres. This decision, the former Socialist leader's defense team considers unlawful.

"It is not a formal conjecture of the defenses, it is about the procedural alteration of the rules of the game and of the balance between the powers of the State [...]. An investigation cannot be opened without further ado, without justification and without authorization from the affected chamber through a request for pardon, against members of the legislative branch," it supposes a violation of the principle of parliamentary immunity. As for Minister Torres, however, the request for a request for pardon is not necessary because he is not a deputy.

Change in the object of the investigation

In this regard, Cerdán's lawyers say that, starting in February 2025, the subject of the investigation will change. "What was initially limited to the mask fraud becomes a general investigation extended to a still undetermined number of people and without defining facts or crimes," they claim. All this, they add, occurs at a critical moment for the PSOE and Sumar government. When the judge asks the police to review the documentation related to these socialist leaders, "the PP and Vox had voted together against the omnibus decree of January 22, 2025." "A major crisis arose in the government's parliamentary support, and Cerdán was in charge of renegotiating with Junts [...], which registered a proposal for the vote of confidence. At that moment, it was agreed to order the judicial police to investigate two members of parliament without authorization," the document states.

The audio recordings

One of the elements that has so far been most incriminating for Cerdán – and also for Koldo García and José Luis Ábalos – have been the audios in which they talk about alleged illegal commissions. According to what has been revealed so far, the audio recordings were made from mobile devices owned by Koldo García, which the Civil Guard confiscated during a search. Well, the defense of the former Socialist number three, as explained by ARA, questions the authenticity of these audio elements and, in this latest document, also their origin and acquisition, as well as the chain of custody, which the defense claims has been broken. He argues that what appears in the case are not the original documents but copies of which "the origin is unknown" and whose "traceability" has not been guaranteed, since there is a change in the seal number: between what appears in the search of Koldo García and the one after the dumping in the Supreme Court.

The role of Rubén Villalba

From the outset, Cerdán's defense has insisted that Koldo García worked for the Civil Guard as an undercover agent, a claim dismissed by the investigating judge. However, attorneys Benet Salellas and Jacobo Teijelo point to a new element that supports this hypothesis. Referring to interventions by the UCO (Central University of Catalonia) and the Prosecutor's Office, they assert that the cell phones used to make the recordings in Ábalos and Cerdán were provided to García through Rubén Villalba, a Civil Guard officer who has also been charged in the case for a "deviation" from his professional activity, in collaboration with Alda. These cell phones are described in the conversation transcripts as "contaminated," without specifying what this means, although in the written statement the defense suggests that they could contain spyware similar to Pegasus and could have been activated remotely. They note, at this point, that Koldo García has publicly stated on Spanish National Television (TVE) that he had not recorded anything.

"Aldama and Koldo García were embedded in the Civil Guard's source system. It is essential to know exactly how and why," Cerdán's defense brief states. In this regard, one of the measures the defense requests is for Rubén Villalba to testify and clarify why he handed them over. They warn: "The right to privacy cannot be restricted when a person acts with the intent to deceive, quasi-police officer. In other words, Koldo has denied being the author of the recordings, but if he had done so, it is clear that he would have been under police supervision and, therefore, it would be void evidence."

The WhatsApp group 'K fontenería'

In reference to Villalba's role, the defense cites a WhatsApp group that this Civil Guard commander had with other police officers from his unit with the title K plumbingThey claim that the case file provides no information about what was said, but the defense suspects that, given the length of its operation, it was related to Koldo García's activities. They request information about the content of the chat.

Partial file and destruction of evidence

The defense also claims that Villalba's superior officer, whom they are asking to be summoned to testify as a witness, warned the officer that the UCO was investigating him. This warning, according to the lawyers, entailed an "apparent destruction of evidence."