The National Court (AN) has set for March 2026 the oral trial of the retired commissioner Jose Manuel Villarejo and two journalists for the so-called ‘Dina case‘, in which the journey of the former Podemos advisor’s phone card was investigated Dina Bousselham since his cell phone was stolen in 2015 until some of the information it contained appeared published in the media.
In a decree the court states from March 16 to 19 of that year the sessions of the oral viewpostponing to later dates the selection of the headquarters of the National Court where it will be held.
It is worth remembering that the Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office requests 5 years in prison for Villarejo and 3 for the two accused journalists, charging all three with the crime of discovery and disclosure of secrets with dissemination to third parties. It is also interesting, as civil liability, that the three compensate jointly and in equal shares to the former Podemos advisor with the amount of 5,000 euros and Pablo Iglesias with 1,000 euros.
In the order by which he agreed to the opening of an oral trial, collected by Europa Press, the former head of the Central Court of Instruction Number 6 Manuel García Castellón collects the Prosecutor’s account of the events, from the robbery at the Ikea in Alcorcón of the belongings of the former advisor and her then partner on November 1, 2015 until the appearance of part of the content of Dina’s cell phone in the media in 2016.
In its letter, Anticorruption indicates that on January 19, 2016, an anonymous person delivered to the headquarters of the Zeta Group an envelope containing micro SD card which was the one that had been connected to the stolen mobile and was examined by journalists, as well as by a manager and the president of the group Antonio Asensio.
The Prosecutor’s Office explains that the latter makes the decision to don’t post anything about it and contacted Iglesias believing that the card “could belong to him.”
«Journalists from your trusted circle»
After that delivery to Iglesias, after viewing it at the publisher’s headquarters, the prosecutors explain that between January and April 2016 the accused journalists were contacted by Villarejowhich was a “usual” source, and they gave him a copy of that micro SD card “knowing that it was an active police officer of the National Police Corps.”
Prosecutors emphasize that both journalists knew that the card they gave to Villarejo “contained files with internal documents of the Podemos partyvarious bank details, video and audio files, and (…) documents of an intimate and personal nature”, including photos of the semi-naked former advisor. They also knew that on the card there were Telegram groups in which members of the party leadership participated.
The letter explains that the commissioner, “acting in abuse of his functions related to police intelligence” did copies and gave them “to journalists from your trusted circle so that this would prepare and publish various information to the discredit of Podemos and (…) Iglesias.”
Next, prosecutors list a series of articles from up to two digital media as proof that the content of the cell phone stolen in 2015 actually ended up being published throughout 2016.
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