The Civil Guard concludes that Koldo's audio recordings are not manipulated.
He also points out that some audios were edited just after being recorded, which the defense uses to question the authenticity of the files.
BarcelonaSince Santos Cerdán was imprisoned, one of the ways his defense has tried to prove the innocence of the former number three of the PSOE has been questioning the authenticity of the audio recordings recorded by Koldo García, in which one could hear talk about alleged kickbacks in the awarding of public works contracts. To clear up any doubts, Supreme Court Judge Leopoldo Puente commissioned an expert report from the Civil Guard. In this report, to which ARA has had access, the police force concludes that "no traces have been identified that show alterations, manipulations, or anomalous behavior" in the audio recordings. However, the Civil Guard report also confirms that some audio recordings were edited "as soon as the recording was completed," and points out that one recorder analyzed lacks time and date metadata, which "limits the traceability" of the device's files.
For Cerdán's defense, despite the fact that the final conclusions of the document confirm the authenticity of the audio recordings, the facts detailed throughout the report open the door to the hypotheses that have been raised so far. Benet Salellas and Jacobo Teijelo, lawyers for the former PSOE member, emphasize that in its conclusions, the Civil Guard makes no reference to the fact that some audio recordings have been edited, although it does explain this throughout its investigation.
What the armed institute does conclude in the acoustic report on the devices is that the files on one cell phone have a labeling date that is six months removed from the recording date. Cerdán's defense team points to this as an inconsistency, while the Civil Guard attributes it to an update to either the application or the phone's software. Salellas and Teijelo also warn that one recorder analyzed lacks date and time metadata, as detailed in the report. For these two reasons, Cerdán's defense team believes that the authenticity of half of the files examined cannot be confirmed.
In addition to analyzing technical issues with the files and devices, the report's authors also conducted a "critical listening" of the audio recordings to detect alterations, anomalies, or facts that do not match previous reports. However, they only conclude that the audio recordings are consistent with the recordings on one of the four devices studied. For the other three, the report concludes that "further studies" are necessary. This leads Cerdán's defense team to point out that the expert cannot confirm the authenticity of 75% of the evidence.
Salellas and Teijelo point out that with these results, Cerdán's release should "normally" be granted ex officio. They believe that all this opens up "many possibilities" for the former PSOE number three, as they believe the report "abounds" in questioning the validity of notable anomalies in the files. Beyond the expert report requested by the judge, Cerdán's defense also commissioned one, and the results will be announced in the coming days.
Cerdán will remain in prison.
Just this Thursday, Judge Leopoldo Puente has agreed to keep the former secretary of organization of the PSOE in provisional prison, as requested by the Anti-Corruption Prosecutor's Office. Thus, the court rejects Cerdán's latest request, considering that there is still a risk of destruction or concealment of evidence regarding the alleged scheme of collecting commissions in exchange for the awarding of public works contracts, in which he allegedly played a leading role. Cerdán has been deprived of liberty since June 30, and the defense requested his release on the 8th after 70 days in pretrial detention.
According to the defense, the investigation into Cerdán is being conducted "without limits" and seeks to "incriminate activities characteristic of political participation." This opinion was rejected by the Supreme Court in a ruling in which the judge sided with the opinion of the head of the Anti-Corruption Prosecutor's Office, Alejandro Luzón, as well as with the private prosecution, and emphasized that this is not the appropriate time to modify Cerdán's procedural status due to the potential risk of tampering with evidence in the case. Despite his entrenched position, Puente warns that his pretrial detention will likely not extend beyond December 30, that is, no more than six months after his imprisonment.
