The evidence in the court case that Zapatero is trying to defuse

MadridIn recent days, José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero has deployed his defense strategy on multiple fronts: four written statements in four days. The latest step taken by the former Spanish president has been to lash out very harshly at the UDEF, whom he holds responsible for his diaries and conversations with his secretary having ended up leaked to the media.having ended up leaked to the media. He denounces it as an “authentic outrage”, an “indiscriminate dissemination” with a “devastating result” and “the most serious attack that can be made” against the rights to honor, privacy, self-image, and secrecy of communications. This latest request, which ARA has accessed, is added to the other moves he has recently made to try to invalidate the chats that incriminate him. They are all conversations between third parties who speak about him and which were the basis of his indictment. So far, his roadmap focuses on attacking the origin and legitimacy of the evidence.

Rodolfo Reyes' mobile phone

On Tuesday, Zapatero's defense urged Judge Calama to reconsider his refusalto request further information from the United States to guarantee the "legality" of the acquisition of Rodolfo Reyes' mobile phone, who was a director of Plus Ultra representing the main shareholder. The conversations found on it are one of the key pieces of evidence against Zapatero. The magistrate closed the door to the request and has limited himself to requesting authorization to use it as evidence. Víctor Moreno Catena, Zapatero's lawyer, protested that there could have been "interference that does not always conform to or comply with the standards required" by the Spanish legal system.

What are the chats in dispute? There is one, for example, between Rodolfo Reyes and Julio Martínez Sola—Plus Ultra's president—from April 2020. The latter warns him that, since Zapatero will call him, he has had to "change his profile picture." However, before the judge, the former Spanish president denied having spoken to him by phone at that time and stated that he did not meet him until 2024, three years after Plus Ultra's bailout. It is the chat where Julio Martínez Sola was also talkative about his roadmap: "As a friend says, we will screw even if we have to pay a little".

Two more examples. In September 2020, Julio Martínez Sola expressed that he wanted Julio Martínez Martínez or Zapatero to speak with SEPI and secure the bailout commitment "with 100% certainty." And in December, Martínez Sola referred to a package that was directed to Martínez Martínez.

Miguel Palomero's office

The other line of action is to question the conversations of lawyer Miguel Palomero. And here we must once again transport ourselves to France and Switzerland. Within the framework of an international investigation, both countries requested a series of searches, and in one of them, the Spanish police seized a computer and other devices belonging to Miguel Palomero. A year later, thanks to that information, the Anti-Corruption Prosecutor's Office filed a complaint in the Madrid courts: “Evidence is appreciated that Rodolfo Reyes and other executives of Plus Ultra are clients of an international criminal organization dedicated to money laundering”. Three months later, the judge put Zapatero in his sights and forwarded the case to the National High Court. And Judge Calama decided to indict the former Spanish president.

What conversations emerged? According to the judge, a “personal and economic relationship” was established between the Venezuelan Danilo Diazgranados and someone named “Zorro”, “Z”, or “ZZZZ”, who was identified as Zapatero. In another chat of Miguel Palomero, there were many references to a “friend”, whom the Spanish police believe to be Julio Martínez Martínez, through whom influence would have been exerted to achieve the rescue through an alternative route. On the other hand, Judge Calama believes that “the friend” was Koldo García, the trusted advisor of José Luis Ábalos in the Ministry of Transport.

This is the embryo that Zapatero wants to nullify. He accuses the Anti-Corruption Prosecutor's Office of having conducted “parallel investigations” and warns that caution must be exercised when reusing “material” for “purposes and procedures” other than those for which it was “lawfully obtained”. His objective is to create an “effect of chained nullities”.

Zapatero's indignation with UDEF

After Judge Calama asked the Madrid courts to investigate the leaks that are occurring in the case, Zapatero has complained about the “irreparable harm” caused by the “notorious immediate media diffusion” of the investigation and protests that “prior precautions” have not been taken to avoid it. In a filing, he blames the UDEF for not being “extremely careful” with the personal documentation it attaches to reports and asks the judge to take measures to reverse this.

His lawyer also reprimands the Spanish police for inspecting “all of Zapatero’s professional work”: “His life cannot be subjected to the scrutiny of the police unit, to its own criteria and convenience,” he maintains. Likewise, he denounces that the latest report on Bolivia, which suggests that the former president would have received 200,000 euros to influence in favor of a Peruvian company, shows an “absolute lack of care and respect” for the fundamental rights of the former president and considers that it addresses “external facts” to those being investigated, resulting from a “prospective and unauthorized investigation”.

The former president of Bolivia denies everything

In fact, in the last few hours, former Bolivian President Luis Arce has responded to this UDEF report to deny any irregularities. In a statement released from San Pedro prison, he assures that in the meeting under suspicion with Zapatero "no legal dispute was discussed". "I was not nor am I involved in any influence peddling," emphasizes Luis Arce, who accuses the Spanish police of reaching conclusions that "seem more like premature convictions for political purposes".

The Tax Agency and Zapatero's jewels

All this on the same day that Judge Calama has offered the Tax Agency to appear as an injured party – through the State Advocacy – in the investigation into the jewelry that Zapatero kept in his office safe, valued at 1.3 million euros. The former president is being investigated for an offense against public finances and smuggling. The magistrate alleges that there was a “patrimonial damage directly connected with income of state ownership”.