The Prosecutor's Office asks to fine the woman who tries to stop the exhumations in Cuelgamuros with 1,000 euros

The Prosecutor's Office has asked the National Court to impose a fine of 1,000 euros for “procedural bad faith” on Marina Benayas, the woman who is trying to paralyze the exhumation work of victims of the Franco regime that, since June, has been carried out in the valley of Cuelgamuros, the name that the Valley of the Fallen acquired in 2022. The public ministry attributes “abuse of the right” by continuing to promote this process in the courts with the argument that it violates the rights to religious freedom, since said works would supposedly affect to the “grave” of his grandmother. A possibility that has already been ruled out by a Contentious-Administrative Court, the State Attorney's Office, National Heritage and the Prosecutor's Office itself.

This woman, advised by the ultra-Catholic group Christian Lawyers, managed to get the National Court to stop the exhumation work in December. The Central Contentious-Administrative Court 11 adopted this measure urgently at the request of the supposedly affected person, who stated that the State had promoted these works without even carrying out the previous procedures. However, after receiving the allegations from the Prosecutor's Office and the State Attorney's Office (on behalf of National Heritage), the court verified that this was not the case. In fact, a few days later, it lifted the suspension, and, already in January, it issued a resolution that overturned the allegations of the alleged victim.

On both occasions, the judge stressed that it has been “proven” that Benayas' grandmother is not buried in the place where the exhumations are taking place. The forensic doctor who coordinates the work explained that she is in a different chapel than where they work, and that “there is no provision for carrying out any forensic operation where” the remains of the appellant woman's relative are found. In turn, the magistrate revealed that, when requesting the adoption of urgent measures, the complainant “omitted” that she knew that the State had implemented a “set of judicial and regulatory actions prior” to the exhumations to have administrative endorsement. to make them.

Despite the setback of the Contentious-Administrative Court 11, the woman has maintained her battle and appealed to be allowed to continue with the work. And that is where the Prosecutor's Office states that she goes too far by maneuvering with “bad faith.” “The appellant insists on affirming that the action of National Heritage constitutes a de facto way [actuación sin competencia o que prescinde totalmente del procedimiento legalmente establecido] and that affects his grandmother, without providing any new factual information that distorts what is based on the appealed order and confirmed in the documentation in the process,” the public ministry points out in a writing in which it emphasizes: “The procedural action of the appellant has no basis whatsoever. Requesting the suspension of the investigation and exhumation actions carried out by National Heritage in the Cuelgamuros valley, harms the victims' right to the truth, and specifically the fulfillment of the Public Administration's duty to proceed with the location, exhumation and identification of missing persons.”

“The appellant hid from the court that National Heritage had responded to the claim made, informing it that the investigation and exhumation actions were being carried out in execution of judicial and administrative resolutions, which evidenced the non-existence of a de facto avenue,” adds the Prosecutor's Office. . It is not the first time that attempts have been made to paralyze these works. In July, the Central Contentious-Administrative Court 5 already rejected the request of the Association for the Defense of the Valley of the Fallen.

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