The Russian plot, archived. The Barcelona Court has estimated the resources of the defenses in the case and has revoked the decision of Judge Joaquín Aguirre, ignoring the instructions of his superiors, to continue investigating the possible connections of the Kremlin with the process. In a harsh resolution, the magistrates undermine the “procedural subterfuge” of the instructor to keep the case open despite the clear instructions they had given him.
The events date back to last June, when Judge Aguirre opened a new piece to investigate the Russian plot after the Barcelona Court ordered him to archive or send the case to trial. The maneuver served the magistrate to charge Puigdemont and not grant him amnesty for facts in which he had been investigating for almost five years without having formally investigated the former president.
Afterwards, the instructor sent Puigdemont to the Supreme Court, although the High Court, almost half a year later, has still not decided whether to take up the Russian plot. In any case, this Tuesday’s decision by the Barcelona Court paves the way for the Supreme Court to also shelve the matter.
Judge Aguirre admitted that continuing to investigate the Russian plot represented an “alternative solution to the objections” that the Barcelona Court had raised. The instructor also recognized that the order from the higher court “led to a dismissal of the Russian interference due to lack of sufficient instruction.”
The “alternative solution” that the magistrate found was to open a new separate room, from another different from the one that had been knocked down, to investigate the same facts that his superiors had prevented him from investigating. The Barcelona Court censures this maneuver by the instructor, who did have the endorsement of the Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office.
Puigdemont considered that the judge’s decision represented a crime of prevarication and filed a complaint against the magistrate. On the other hand, the Prosecutor’s Office supported Judge Aguirre and asked the Superior Court of Justice of Catalonia (TSJC) to dismiss the complaint. The magistrates have not yet made a decision.
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