The former commissioner faces two years in prison for alleged crimes of slander and false complaint
MADRID, 6 One. (EUROPA PRESS) –
The first trial against the retired commissioner and in provisional prison José Manuel Villarejo, for alleged crimes of slander and false complaint against the former director of the National Intelligence Center (CNI) Félix Sanz Roldán, will feature a “trial” that will be held this Thursday with the aim of ensuring the connection so that the former friend of the King Emeritus Corinna Larsen can testify by videoconference from London as a witness.
The trial against Villarejo, the first of what could be a long list for the ‘Tandem case’ and its many ramifications, will begin at 10:00 a.m. on January 15 at Criminal Court Number 8 in Madrid, after four postponements due to the coronavirus pandemic. For this case, he faces two years in prison.
It is planned that in the first session Larsen will testify by videoconference from the British capital at 11.00 (Spanish time) and, to avoid possible connection failures that day, it has been decided to carry out a “rehearsal” that will take place on January 7.
Larsen’s appearance is related to the crime of libel. The events date back to June 5, 2017, when Villarejo said in the ‘Salvados’ program of La Sexta that Sanz Roldán had threatened to kill the German-Danish businesswoman “being aware that it was not true,” according to the prosecution’s account .
In a sworn statement before a notary, Larsen accused Sanz Roldán of being behind a “campaign” against her and of personally threatening her in a hotel in the United Kingdom in 2012, after Don Juan Carlos had the accident in Botswana.
Larsen will testify at Villarejo’s proposal to ratify the alleged threats. In addition, the former head of the Economic and Fiscal Crime Unit (UDEF) José Luis Olivera and the former head of the Intelligence Center against Terrorism and Organized Crime (CITCO) and current head of the Minister’s Cabinet are cited as witnesses. Defense, Esperanza Casteleiro, both at the request of the defense.
However, the judge has rejected the testimony of the former Deputy Director of Operations (DAO) of the National Police Eugenio Pino; the former Secretary of State for Security Francisco Martínez and four journalists. The magistrate opposes practicing these interrogations, understanding that what the first two could prove will be done by Olivera himself and that the knowledge of the second is from an indirect source or can be witnessed by Larsen.
THE “TENTACLES” OF VILLAREJO
The other axis of the trial against Villarejo will be the complaint filed on June 1, 2017 by Villarejo against Sanz Roldán and a journalist for an article about his “tentacles” in the judicial world that was illustrated with a photograph of him, according to the complaint, obtained in an anti-terrorist operation in which he had participated as an undercover agent.
The image shows Villarejo getting off a plane in the runway area of the Melilla airport and, according to his complaint, it was part of a dossier that the CNI would have provided to the newspaper ‘El País’ with the knowledge and authorization of Sanz Roldán , which would constitute, in his opinion, a crime of discovery and revelation of secrets and a crime of collaboration with activities of terrorist organizations.
The complaint was not admitted for processing and the judge ordered the filing of the proceedings. Villarejo appealed in reform and in appeal, without any success, and finally the Public Prosecutor’s Office and the State Attorney’s Office ended up taking actions against him for a false complaint in the courts of Madrid.
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