Grande-Marlaska complies with the order of the Supreme Court and reinstates Colonel Pérez de los Cobos

The Justice declared his dismissal "illegal" because the motivation was not "real"

The Ministry of the Interior has complied with the ruling of the Supreme Court (TS) and has reinstated Colonel Diego Pérez de los Cobos, who was dismissed due to loss of confidence as head of the Madrid Civil Guard Command by the Minister of the Interior, Fernando Grande-Marlaska, as confirmed by Interior sources to Europa Press.

The same sources indicate that the reinstatement has been communicated to both the judicial headquarters and the colonel. The environment of Pérez de los Cobos indicates that, indeed, he has been informed that his reinstatement as head of the Civil Guard Command in Madrid has already been signed and that it will be published next week in the official bulletin of the Benemérita .

It was on March 28 that the Supreme Court agreed with Pérez de los Cobos, confirming the sentence handed down on March 31, 2021 by the Central Contentious-Administrative Court Number 8 of the National Court, which declared the The colonel's dismissal when he understood that the motivation was not "real" or, at the very least, did not conform "to reality".

Already in June, Pérez de los Cobos sent a letter to Grande-Marlaska in which he demanded that "as soon as possible he bring to the point and due effect what was ordered by a final judgment, arranging for him to be reinstated in his position and functions without further delay".

Interior had a period of two months to execute the reinstatement of Pérez de los Cobos as head of the Civil Guard in Madrid. However, sources in the case indicated that the term had been extended because it began to count from the time the ruling was effectively notified to the Ministry of the Interior. Thus, a restitution was pointed out "around the first week of August".

Pérez de los Cobos was fired in May 2020, specifically on a Sunday night a few days after the state of alarm was declared for COVID-19 and that agents of the Madrid Command began an investigation -later archived- by order of a judge on the possible connection of the 8-M feminist demonstration and the spread of infections.

The dismissal of this colonel has motivated one of the recurring criticisms of the PP, Vox and Cs to the management of Grande-Marlaska. The colonel alleged in one of his appeals that his dismissal was a "direct consequence of not having agreed to carry out an openly illegal act", as would have happened in the case of "informing the political leaders of the Ministry of the Interior of an investigation submitted to the strictest reserve".

Judge Celestino Salgado declared the dismissal of the colonel "illegal" on the understanding that the motivation was not "real" or, at the very least, did not conform "to reality." Then, the Contentious-Administrative Chamber of the National Court agreed with the State Attorney at first, considering that there was no "deviation of power" due to a loss of confidence. To do otherwise, she argued, would mean eliminating the possibility of removing an officer from a freely appointed position.

After learning of the Supreme Court ruling, Grande-Marlaska assured that they were going to comply with the sentence, although he reiterated that the decision to dismiss him was justified by loss of confidence due to the leak of the 8-M report and because he did not communicate the practice to his superiors of this diligence, as it had previously done with other news. According to him, at no time was the Interior leadership interested in knowing "the content" of said report.

The minister also alluded in Congress to the possible relationship of Pérez de los Cobos with the misuse of funds reserved during the PP government, since the colonel was a high-ranking Interior officer --he was sent to Catalonia for the referendum of the 1-O-- before boss in Madrid. However, Grande-Marlaska later clarified that his intention had not been to link him directly to the 'Kitchen case'.