The Barcelona Court releases the main suspect in the murder of Helena Jubany
The court believes the evidence against him is "undeniable" but considers it unlikely that he will flee after 25 years.
BarcelonaThe main suspect in the 2001 murder of Helena Jubany, Santi Laiglesia, was released from Brians 1 prison on Thursday after spending 41 days in pretrial detention. The Barcelona Provincial Court accepted an appeal from his defense to overturn the decision of the investigating judge in the case, who He was sent to pretrial detention on November 28.The judges, like the Sabadell judge investigating the case, believe there is sufficient evidence against Laiglesia, but they think that after 25 years it is unlikely he will attempt to evade justice and do not see it as necessary for him to await trial in prison. He will be able to do so on provisional release, but without his passport – he is prohibited from leaving the country – and with the obligation to appear in court once a month.
The judges of the appeals chamber of the Barcelona Provincial Court announced their decision this Thursday, and this afternoon Laiglesia was released from prison, as has been reported. The Vanguard and the ARA has been able to confirm. The ruling is signed by the three judges who reviewed it. Laiglesia's appeal against his provisional imprisonmentThe three applaud the investigating judge's approach to evaluating the evidence and agree that the conclusion of considering him the possible perpetrator of the crime is "neither irrational nor arbitrary." A key element in strengthening the evidence against Laiglesia is the DNA test results linking him to the genetic material found on the sweater Jubany was wearing when she was found dead in the courtyard of a building. According to the judge in the case, these results opened a "new scenario" in which an indictment would be much more viable, which could also encourage Laiglesia to flee. In fact, one of the investigating judge's arguments for sending Laiglesia to pretrial detention was that this "clearly incriminating" evidence could push the suspect to flee to avoid trial. They do not see a flight risk.
The judges of the Provincial Court agree that "the incriminating content of the report's conclusion regarding the DNA sample collected from the victim's sweater is undeniable." However, they believe that to assess the risk of Laiglesia fleeing to avoid trial, the 25 years that have passed since the crime and the time that has passed since the crime summoned him must be taken into account. In the court's opinion, this "change of scenario" in the evidence against him is not sufficient to "directly infer a flight risk" that would justify imprisonment. The investigating judge also argued that pretrial detention would prevent Laiglesia from "pressuring or influencing" the witnesses in the case, a point on which the Provincial Court has not ruled. In any case, the judges add that Laiglesia has strong social, family, and professional ties, factors that the justice system always considers when assessing the risk of flight and weighing the possibility of pretrial detention.
