The National Court rules out for now charging the PSOE for the Leire case, just as the PP was requesting

BarcelonaThe PP's request to charge the PSOE in the Leire Díez case has not been successful. The judge leading the case at the National Court, Santiago Pedraz, has rejected, for now, that Pedro Sánchez's party be considered an investigated legal entity, as some proceedings in the framework of the case are still pending.

However, the interlocutory order points out that this decision is one reached "for the moment," meaning that it does not rule out charging the PSOE later on in the investigation into the alleged organization established to destabilize judicial cases affecting the socialist environment and the Spanish government.

The magistrate bases his decision on the Supreme Court's doctrine regarding the criminal liability of legal entities and the requirements demanded for their indictment, and explains that for now, he does not find what is called a "principle of evidence" to attribute the status of investigated party to the PSOE. Some pending proceedings include the analysis of the documentation seized at Ferraz and the statement of the party's former organization secretary, Santos Cerdán. Once these are done, Pedraz will decide again whether or not to charge the socialist party.

The PP does not consider the battle lost and has clung to the fact that, despite the "indications," the Court sees it necessary to "complete all proceedings." In this regard, the PP's secretary general, Miguel Tellado, made it clear in a press conference that they will not stop pointing out and denouncing the "corruption" of the PSOE. "And we will clean it up," he said in a message clearly in an electoral key.

What would be needed to charge the PSOE?

The National Court explains that it is not sufficient for executives or employees of the PSOE to have committed a crime, but that it is necessary to prove a structural defect in the organization, control, and supervision of the entity, and that there must be a direct or indirect benefit for the organization.

Therefore, it is necessary to assess "a possible and indicative attribution of criminal responsibility to the party" for the alleged crimes of Leire Díez and Santos Cerdán. Specifically, what real powers Cerdán had, who executed the payments being investigated, what internal controls were in place, whether there were relevant errors in the supervision mechanisms, and, obviously, whether the party obtained any benefit from it.