The Provincial Court of Valencia has decided to maintain the provisional release without bail of the former minister and former president of the Generalitat Valenciana Eduardo Zaplanasentenced to ten years and five months in prison for the crimes of prevarication, bribery, falsehood and money laundering, within the framework of the ITV plot of the Erial case.
The Fourth Section thus rejects the request of the Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office that requested the immediate imprisonment of the former leader of the PP before the sentence – which will be appealed in cassation before the Supreme Court – becomes final.
Contrary to the vision of the Public Ministry, the magistrates consider that the risk of flight “It is non-existent” because Zaplana has not carried out until now “any action aimed at evading the action of Justice.” Of course, the Court maintains the precautionary measures of passport withdrawal, prohibition of leaving the national territory and appearance on the first Monday of each month in court.
In an order notified to the parties this Monday, the magistrates argue to support their resolution that the prisoner “enjoys family, social and even medical roots in the national territory”, a roots “that makes it difficult to think that he is going to abandon” that same national territory to avoid serving the sentences that have been imposed.
Furthermore, the court recalls that his assets abroad and also in Spain “have already been seized through confiscations and royal precautionary measures adopted in this case” and are therefore “at the disposal of the Spanish Justice”, a fact that ” also reduces their economic capabilities when planning an exit from the national territory, which there is no evidence that he has attempted.
Along these lines, the court points out that Zaplana has not shown until now “any gesture or sign” that leads to considering that he intends to evade the action of Justice and not accept compliance with the sentences once they are declared final.
Thus, since the investigating court in this case decreed his provisional release, on February 7, 2019, with precautionary measures similar to those that are maintained now, “he has been punctually complying” with the obligation to appear weekly in the court of his home.
It has also been present at all sessions of the trial oral and “has not failed to comply with any judicial call”, specifies the Fourth Section, “even when its line of defense could have been compromised, when some of the accused accepted their responsibility for the events for which they were accused.”
At the viewing held last Friday to evaluate the Prosecutor’s request, the former minister defended that he had no intention of leaving Spain due to his illness – he suffers from leukemia – and due to family roots. “It’s not in my mood to run away”he asserted. His lawyer demanded that the presumption of innocence be respected, because the ruling is not final and its review could lead to lesser penalties. Likewise, he alleged that he has no possibility of hiding evidence or repeating crimes because he no longer holds public office.
On the other hand, the prosecutor insisted that it has been proven that Zaplana “has access to financial products and assets abroad which he has not made available to the Spanish authorities”, which would allow him to flee and continue with his medical treatment in another part of the world. In that sense, he recalled the case of the former general director of the Valencian Export Institute (IVEX) José María Tabares, who fled to Japan, a country with which Spain does not have an extradition agreement.
On provisional release since 2019
He also rejected the medical report -prepared by the court’s forensic experts in 2019- contributed by the spokesperson for the Government of José María Aznar to oppose this precautionary measure. that the defense has presented today to oppose this precautionary measure. “Fortunately Zaplana has attended the trial, we understand that his health problem is not risky and he has developed a completely normal life,” said the prosecutor.
The former leader of the Valencian PP was arrested in May 2018 and was in provisional prison until February 2019, after spending two months admitted to the La Fe Hospital in Valencia to be treated for leukemia.
The magistrates of the Provincial Court consider it proven that, being president of the Generalitat in 1997, rigged the public tender for ITV stations to obtain 6.4 million euros in bribes. A fortune that was diverted to Luxembourg to hide it – using his inner circle – and later return it to Spain, through a complex corporate structure.
According to the same resolution, made public in mid-October, Eduardo Zaplana established a corporate network in Panama with bank accounts in Andorra to receive more money -9.8 million- of illicit origin. “This was not a one-off act, but conduct that continued over time, for many years,” during his political career and after leaving it in 2008.
For all this, the Court also imposed 17 years and 10 months of disqualification from employment and public office, another three from the exercise of his profession and fines totaling more than 25 million euros. Although he was acquitted of the crime of being a criminal group, the ruling decreed the confiscation of different assets and amounts seized during the investigation of the case. The ruling also convicted five defendants and acquitted eight others.
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