The investigation commission of Operation Catalunya transcends in Congress between the confusion and the irrelevance of the testimonies of those appearing. This Tuesday, the former head of Internal Affairs of the Police between February 2012 and December 2014, Marcelino Martín Blas, one of the agents who will sit on the bench for the parapolice espionage of Luis Bárcenas and who has tried to convince the deputies that he has nothing to do with the maneuvers against the independence movement.
During Martín Blas’s statement, the paradox occurred that, while the retired commissioner was making that statement, he confessed to his unit’s interference in politically biased investigations that had nothing to do with the Internal Affairs Unit that he commanded. Influenced by information that for years has been trying to portray Martín Blas as the good guy of that police leadership, compared to his enemy, José Manuel Villarejo, some Catalan deputies succumbed to the statements of the appearing party and were “very grateful” for his intervention, as was the case with the spokesman for Together, Josep Valles.
“I have nothing to do with Operation Catalonia,” stated Martín Blas. At the same time, the retired commissioner has referred naturally to how he met with two prosecutors who were investigating the irregular financing of CiU in October 2012 because he believed that “action” had to be taken against its treasurer. That action that Martín Blas requested was the search of the party headquarters in the middle of the electoral pre-campaign, as the prosecutors officially denounced at the time.
“I would do it a thousand times”
The ERC deputy, Pilar Villagura, has asked what the head of Internal Affairs was doing meddling in an investigation against corruption without there being any police officers under investigation. “I have explained it a thousand times. I am a policeman. He was convinced that they had committed a crime. I would do it a thousand times,” said Martín Blas, in such a way that he has confessed a recurring practice of the political brigade, the use of Internal Affairs as police on the ground.
A judicial investigation managed to credit 19 trips, only by train, from Martín Blas and Villarejo to Catalonia without the unit commanded by the first having open investigations against national police there. The former head of Andorra’s Private Banking has denounced, and is being investigated in a court in the neighboring country, how Martín Blas participated in the blackmail suffered by the bank’s owners to facilitate the Pujols’ accounts, later published in El Mundo. Martín Blas has denied any action in that regard, but has acknowledged having received from Higini Cierco, also from the BPA, a sheet of paper with the accounts and funds of the Pujol family in the bank. “It was worthless. “I broke it,” he said.
The confusion created by Martín Blas’ statements has led deputies to believe that the former head of Internal Affairs fought against the fabrication of reports in the UDEF, the anti-corruption unit, in the affairs of Catalonia. In reality, what Martín Blas did was turn his unit into a tool to pressure the agents who were investigating box B of the PP, already with the Popular Party in Government, as elDiario.es revealed in 2014 and confirmed years later. late in Congress the inspector in charge of these investigations.
The retired commissioner has said that he never knew of Police activities to harm political opponents of the PP, despite the previous story. And he added that now retired he has had information. And what is that information or documentation? Well, Villarejo’s agendas published by the media, press reports and other documents that, from what he revealed, are identified with a judicial investigation that is being followed in a court in Madrid due to the confluence of Venezuelan hierarchs and police officers from the political brigade. Podemos, a judicial case in which the political party is involved. This analysis of current events that he has carried out as a retiree was celebrated by Podemos spokesperson, Martina Velarde. Both she and the deputies of the PSOE, ERC and Junts have considered Martín-Blas’s statements to be of great relevance and will request another appearance from the retired commissioner due to the tight time set for his interventions.
Against Villarejo
Once he tried to present himself as a current analyst, accredited by his vast police experience, Martín Blas has gone on to fight one of his battles, the one he maintains with another member of that political brigade, Commissioner José Manuel Villarejo. From the analysis of everything published, Martín Blas has concluded that Villarejo is the author of the draft that El Mundo published and later disseminated by the Unified Police Union about the alleged corruption of Artur Mas and other independence leaders, the one known as the “UDEF draft.” ”. He did not offer any exclusive when he accused Villarejo of being behind its preparation.
In his attempt to talk about other matters where he was not related, Marcelino Martín-Blas has mentioned an alleged donation from the FAES foundation, linked to the Popular Party, by part of the CiU corruption plot. He has also mentioned Judge Juan Carlos Peinado’s decision to keep a Venezuelan leader whose case was archived for 16 months in provisional prison. Both mentions, already known for years, excited the attention of the PSOE spokesperson, who insisted that Martín Blas focus on it, but the retired commissioner only knew what he had read. The donation to FAES was denied by the Tax Agency 12 years ago and Nervis Villalobos has already reached the Constitutional Court in his complaint about the decision of the judge who is now investigating Begoña Gómez.
#Internal #Affairs #admits #interfered #investigations #Catalonia #powers
