The Barcelona Court has acquitted Xavier García Albiol, current mayor of Badalona for the PP and the rest of those accused by the installation of mobile phone antennas without a license in a Guàrdia Urbana police station of this town in 2012, during his first term. The ruling of the Fifth Section maintains that “there is no evidence or indication” that Albiol knew “even the purpose of installing antennas” and “much less, that he made the decision to authorize it». The magistrates also note that, during the trial, held last December, no one indicated that the councilor had participation in said matter and that “no document points to that intervention.”
What’s more, one of the witnesses, a union representative from Urbana, certified that Albiol himself was surprised when he himself told him that there were antennas on the police station premises. The ruling also indicates that the mayor “will never know the illegality of the installation». What’s more, the agents conveyed to the public their concern about the radiation from the antennas but never about the legality of the antennas.
For all these reasons, the Court concludes that it cannot be stated that Albiol “at any time received information that could make it suspect that they lacked administrative permits from the City Council.” Nor that the instances that were presented before the consistory reached him. But, as several witnesses corroborated, that these “were referred to the corresponding departments”, which is why he has been acquitted.
During his statement before the court, Albiol pleaded innocent and assured that if he had been told that there were irregularities “he would have acted.” The events date back to 2012 when, according to the Prosecutor’s Office, acting as mayor, there would have been decided to authorize, “without ever issuing an express resolution”, the installation of two antennas of telephony within the premises of the Urbana del Turó d’en Caritg police station.
According to the Public Ministry, he did so despite knowing that the location was not compatible for this usewhich prevented the granting of a municipal environmental and urban planning license. After hearing his statement, the Prosecutor’s Office maintained the request for two years and 10 months in prison for Albiol for a continued crime of prevarication and requested a year and a half as collaborators for the then Urban Planning manager, Xavier Salvà; the manager of the public company Engestur, Tomás Vizcaíno; and the head of the licensing and works department, Josep Duran. However, he withdrew the accusation against the former Badalona Citizen Security Councilor, Miguel Jurado, and the Urban Planning Councilor from his government team, Oriol Lladó. Now all of them have been acquitted.
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