The Minister of the Interior, Fernando Grande-Marlaska, has assured that he was not aware of the complaint of sexual assault by a subordinate against the operational head of the National Police, Chief Commissioner José Ángel González. “Evidently we didn’t know anything. At the very least we would have asked for his resignation and immediate dismissal as was done yesterday,” he defended this Wednesday minutes before the Government control session in Congress.
Marlaska has stated that the woman’s lawyer kept “the facts a secret” until this Tuesday afternoon and that, once the complaint was read, “there was no other decision” possible due to the seriousness of the facts than to “require her resignation or immediate dismissal.” “There is a lack of knowledge, I have not covered it,” he insisted. He has also accused the PP of “instrumentalizing” what happened “inappropriately” by accusing the Government of “knowing, covering up and protecting” the alleged sexual assault by the Police DAO.
He has confirmed that he has requested confidential information about another DAO commissioner and advisor for his alleged coercion towards the complainant by offering her any position in the Police. “It is being studied and I have asked that it be agreed that he be relieved of any responsibility within his current functions,” he stated.
He has subsequently stated that he will resign if the alleged victim claims that she has not felt protected or understands that he has failed her as a minister. “The only person from whom I will be able to accept any criticism is from the victim herself. If the victim herself has not felt protected or has understood that this minister has failed her in some sense, obviously I will resign and I will resign,” Marlaska said in the Government control session in the Congress of Deputies.
The minister spoke in this way in a angry session in which the PP deputies shouted from their seats for him to resign, to which the socialist bench responded with applause.
Cited March 17
Judge David Maman Benchimol has summoned González on March 17, the same day as his alleged victim. The order states: “The facts that result from the previous actions present characteristics that suggest the possible existence of crimes of sexual assault whose investigation corresponds to this judicial body, according to article 89 of the LOPJ, and to practice those essential ones aimed at making such determination and, where appropriate, the applicable procedure.”
The woman’s complaint explains that she had a relationship with the commissioner in the past, being his subordinate, and then gives a lengthy account of the events. The complainant states that she ended the relationship at an undetermined time and that, “from then on, she was the victim of obsessive behavior of harassment and unwanted contact that culminated in the very serious events” that occurred on April 23, 2025. That day, the woman denounces, he attempted “a physical approach of a sexual nature towards the victim” that “was rejected verbally, expressly, emphatically and continuously by the victim at all times.” Despite the denials, the DAO would have then begun “aggressive behavior of a sexual nature characterized by physical violence and environmental intimidation, taking advantage of the situation of isolation, physical superiority and institutional authority.”
After the alleged sexual assault, the woman reports constant harassment, by the DAO himself and the other police commander who ate with him on the day of the attack.
José Ángel González Jiménez joined the National Police in 1984 and has been the top commander of the National Police since 2018, since Fernando Grande-Marlaska has been Minister of the Interior and Francisco Pardo Piqueras has been director general of the National Police. In November 2024, the Ministry annulled his retirement upon turning 65 so that he could continue in his position as head of the Deputy Operational Directorate, resorting to a legal modification in the royal decree of measures by the Dana of Valencia, something that was questioned by the opposition parties and some police sectors.
Source: www.eldiario.es
