Guardia Civil leadership charged with alleged obstruction of justice
The director general Mercedes González and the operational deputy commander Manuel Llamas will testify on Thursday as investigated parties before judge Santiago Pedraz for alleged offences of abuse of authority and obstruction of justice.
Guardia Civil leadership charged with alleged obstruction of justice
Judge Santiago Pedraz will summon the highest-ranking officer of the armed force, Mercedes González, and her operational deputy, Lieutenant General Manuel Llamas, to testify as investigated parties on Thursday. Both face accusations of abuse of authority and hindering judicial proceedings, an unprecedented scenario in almost two centuries of the Benemérita's history. Only Luis Roldán, a former head of the force later convicted of embezzlement and bribery, had found himself in a similar situation.
The investigating judge suspects that the institute's leadership opened three classified proceedings intended to intimidate senior commanders of the UCO. This anti-corruption unit had identified González as a key figure in an alleged manoeuvre to halt investigations that were damaging to the Socialist party. The investigation indicates that the head of the force acted under the influence of Leire Díez, linked to the PSOE, whom she admitted meeting on two occasions after initially denying it from the Interior Ministry.
The force's professional associations—AUGC, Jucil and AEGC—are calling for the director's removal. They characterise it as inadmissible that management should have urged the UCO to moderate its actions in matters affecting the Government. On 1 July, during the commission ceremony in El Escorial, officers present chanted slogans of support for the anti-corruption unit whilst booing González.
The Interior Minister, Fernando Grande-Marlaska, continues to publicly back the director. Those around him maintain that there is no compelling evidence to support the charges, and they contrast the case with that of the former deputy chief of police José Ángel González, who was immediately removed after a sexual assault complaint was merely admitted for proceedings.
Rubén Villalba, an officer involved in the Koldo scandal, confirmed this week that Leire Díez proposed that he advise González in exchange for confidential command data. Both the Anti-Corruption Prosecution and Pedraz credit the hypothesis that the director used internal tools to intimidate subordinates investigating sensitive cases.
Source: La Vanguardia
Source: La Vanguardia