Judge Joaquín Delgado departs from the court of the first trial for 'Lezo' after a challenge from the PSOE

The AN removed him from the court that will judge Camps for 'Gürtel' for being a former high-ranking PP official

MADRID, 2 Nov. (EUROPA PRESS) -

Judge Joaquín Delgado has withdrawn from the court made up of the National High Court (AN) to judge the first piece of the 'Lezo' macro-case that reaches the oral hearing, the one related to the purchase of the Colombian company Inassa by the Canal de Isabel II (CYII) in 2001, after a request from the PSOE for her "connection" with the Popular Party.

The legal sources consulted by Europa Press indicate that Delgado has accepted the recusal incident formulated by the popular accusation carried out by the PSOE in a letter dated July 20 where he alleged that the professional career of the magistrate "causes serious doubts regarding the appearance of impartiality of the same in this procedure".

Thus, he recalled that alleged illegalities will be judged "under the public administration of the Popular Party that governed the Community of Madrid on the date of the events" and that Delgado has held "senior positions" in the Ministry of Justice when it was directed by José María Michavila and Rafael Catalá and "the maximum responsibility in matters of justice in the PP".

The socialist accusation emphasized that "his dismissal from said Ministry as General Director of Modernization of Justice occurs as a consequence of the change of Government and not due to an electoral process", due to the motion of censure against the Government of Mariano Rajoy.

"The fact that the arrival to the Government of the socialist party has been the direct cause of the dismissal of the magistrate from the highest-ranking job within the administration of justice held by the rapporteur to date clearly affects his appearance of impartiality," he argued. the PSOE.

It should be remembered that the Criminal Chamber of the National Court already unanimously accepted last July the socialist request -supported by the Prosecutor's Office- to remove Delgado from the court that will judge the former Valencian president Francisco Camps for the piece ' Orange Market' of the 'Gürtel' case.

The Plenary then appreciated that in the case of Delgado the circumstances described by article 351.f of the Organic Law of the Judicial Power (LOPJ) concur, according to which the judges who "are appointed to political office" upon returning to their posts must abstain, or may be disqualified, from intervening in matters in which political parties or "those of its members who hold or have held public office" are party.

The Criminal Chamber of the AN has enabled a total of 20 sessions, between May 24 and June 27, to host the oral hearing for this separate piece number 1 of 'Lezo', the first to come to trial.

The head of the Central Court of Instruction Number 6, Manuel García Castellón, sent a total of 22 people to trial, including former Madrid councilors Pedro Calvo and Juan Bravo, former collaborators of the former mayor of Madrid and regional president Alberto Ruiz-Gallardon.

For them, the Anti-Corruption Prosecutor's Office demands a sentence of 7 years in prison and 15 years of absolute disqualification for a crime of embezzlement of public funds in competition with a crime of prevarication.

The Public Ministry is interested in the other 20 defendants, all of them technicians and former directors of the public water company, as well as managers and intermediaries in the operation, sentences of between 6 and 7 years in prison and between 12 and 15 years of disqualification. absolute for the same crimes.

In addition, in terms of civil liability, the Public Prosecutor's Office requests that the 22 defendants indemnify Canal de Isabel II jointly and severally with the "surcharge paid for the acquisition" of the Panamanian company through which Canal de Isabel II bought Inassa, which amounts to just over 19 million euros, "without prejudice to the higher amount that may be set in the process of definitive conclusions".

During the investigation phase, García Castellón closed the investigation that was being carried out against Ruiz-Gallardón, despite the fact that when Inassa was bought he was the president of the Community of Madrid. He also exonerated former Madrid president Ignacio González, the main accused in other separate pieces of 'Lezo', since he had not yet reached the Presidency of Canal de Isabel II when the acquisition of the Colombian company was closed.

According to Anticorruption, Canal de Isabel II bought Inassa for 73 million dollars through a company based in Panama --Aguas de América (SAA)-- as part of the "international expansion" that the public company began in 2001 in Colombia. through the acquisition of 75% of Inassa.

To do this, Canal de Isabel II "used a newly created vehicle company" called Canal Extensia, owned 75% by the Madrid-based company and 25% by the Valencian company Técnicas Valencianas del Agua. The acquisition was subject to prior authorization, first, from the CYII's board of directors and, later, from the Governing Council of the Community of Madrid.

Since its creation in 1996, Inassa has belonged to the company Aguas de Barcelona (Agbar) and various local Colombian partners. Its main asset was the Colombian company Acueducto, Alcantarillado y Aseo de Barranquilla (Triple A), which was nourished by the income obtained from the provision of the municipal concession service that was granted by the Barranquilla City Council.

For the Prosecutor's Office, the purchase of Inassa was "plagued by illicit acts and, contrary to what was authorized, it was carried out indirectly", since what was really purchased was the Panamanian company Aguas de América, whose assets included 75% of Inassa and 51% of the Dominican company Watco.

The result would have been "a diversion of public funds destined for its payment, mainly due to the premium paid and the inclusion within its object of unauthorized or valued assets that did not result in any benefit" for the Community of Madrid.