The judge who called for Begoña Gómez to be declared under investigation at the request of a complaint from Manos Cleans refused to summon the mayor of Madrid, José Luis Martínez-Almeida, to avoid a “disregard of his image” when he was accused of prevaricating by closing the city parks during the first months of the pandemic. On that occasion, Judge Juan Carlos Peinado upheld the allegations of the mayor’s lawyer and explained that, sometimes, a complaint or complaint against a public figure only seeks the photo at the door of the court: “It must be the object of care by the judicial body before capriciously summoning any citizen,” said the judge before annulling Martínez-Almeida’s appearance days before filing the case.
The head of court 41 in Plaza de Castilla in Madrid announced this Tuesday, five days before the European elections, that he was summoning Begoña Gómez to be declared under investigation for next Friday, July 5. A summons that arrives after receiving a report from the Central Operational Unit (UCO) of the Civil Guard that rules out any type of crime and before having heard the six witnesses whom it has summoned for Sunday of next week. All at the request of a complaint from the ultra pseudo-union Clean Hands presented based on eight news items published in the media, one of them a hoax.
It was four years ago, in May 2020, when the same magistrate opened proceedings for a complaint by the lawyer José Luis Mazón against the mayor of the city of Madrid, José Luis Martínez-Almeida, accusing the councilor and one of his councilors of prevaricating for close the capital’s parks during the first months of the pandemic. The two were called to testify on Saturday, May 23 of that year, but a day before the judge reconsidered his decision, appealing to the damage that the subpoena could do to the mayor’s image.
His order rejected a good part of the allegations of Martínez-Almeida’s defense, which involved filing the case. Mazón’s complaint about whether closing the parks could be a crime, he alleged then, “requires a minimum investigation.” The judge had harsh words for the first mayor’s writing. “An exposition, which seems to be obtained from any Basic Criminal Law manual, aimed at students in the first years of Law,” he said, about the bulk of the mayor’s lawyer’s arguments.
Peinado did not file the case until several days later. But that same Friday, one day before the councilor’s appointment with the court, he did decide to cancel the summons to, first, listen to the complainant again. Martínez-Almeida’s defense alleged that with the call to testify the mayor was being subjected to the “bench punishment” and the judge considered that, indeed, in that case there could be an open case only with the objective of seeing him enter. and leave the court.
The judge then recognized that it could be a “disadvantage” that in cases of public figures or officials a court summons “can entail additional stigmatization.” That the media publishes “his image or leaving the judicial headquarters” can lead to “per se to a disregard for their image.” This intention to harm the image of the defendant, Peinado added, may be the intention “pursued by the complainants or plaintiffs”, sometimes “as the first and sometimes fundamental objective.”
That, according to what the magistrate said four years ago, should lead judges to take special care when setting a date to the statements of those investigated. “It must be the subject of care by the judicial body and keep that aspect in mind before capriciously summoning any citizen.” In the case of the mayor and his councilor, the summons “makes no sense.” A few days later the case, opened by lawyer José Luis Mazón, was filed.
Begoña Gómez, cited as being investigated
This Tuesday the magistrate made public the summons of Begoña Gómez as being investigated for next July 5. The appearance comes after the instructor has decided to open proceedings following a complaint from Clean Hands, a pseudo-union led by the ultra Miguel Bernad, which in the last decade has filed dozens of complaints and complaints against politicians that have ended up in the file. .
Bernad himself acknowledged that his complaint was based on news published in various media and even went to the court to ask that one of them not be taken into account: the hoax by The Objective that attributed a subsidy to the wife of the president of the Government that, in reality, had been granted to a hotelier from Cantabria with the exact same name.
The summons also comes after the Central Operational Unit (UCO) of the Civil Guard has ruled out irregularities both in the rescue of Air Europa and in the public awards to the UTE of Carlos Barrabés. Also after two journalists who have testified as witnesses have stated that they have no evidence of pressure or irregularities either. And before listening to the explanations of six witnesses, including Barrabés himself or directors of Red.es, the public company that signed the awards placed under suspicion by the Manos Liminas complaint.
Source: www.eldiario.es
