Rus requests the annulment of Imelsa and alleges "manipulation" in the flash drive that originated the cause

Anti-corruption reaches an agreement in accordance with 10 of the 26 defendants, who acknowledge the facts

VALENCIA, 23 Jan. (EUROPE PRESS) -

The lawyer of the former president of the Diputación and of the PP of the province of Valencia Alfonso Rus has requested the annulment of the Imelsa case when he saw "manipulation" in the flash drive that originated the procedure and that the current Minister of Transparency and former deputy of Esquerra Unida delivered in the Valencia Provincial Council, Rosa Pérez Garijo, to the Anti-Corruption Prosecutor's Office.

Rus's lawyer has pronounced himself like this on the first day of the trial for pieces B and F of Imelsa, relating to the alleged 'zombies' in Imelsa and Ciegsa, during the turn of previous issues. Prosecutor's Office has opposed his claim.

Rus' lawyer, Emilio Pérez, has questioned the authenticity of the "computer artifacts" that led to the Imelsa case and, specifically, has referred to the flash drive that Rosa Pérez gave to the Prosecutor's Office in 2014, which "does not show that it was delivered to the UCO for its analysis or its acceptance by the court", he said, for what he sees as a violation of the right to defense, of effective judicial protection and of a process with all the guarantees for his client.

"We do not know the chain of custody of the flash drive because legally it has never moved from the complaint piece," he asserted, adding that it was "manipulated" one day before it arrived at the public prosecutor's office.

Regarding the flash drive and the computer that Mariano López, the former father-in-law of Imelsa's former manager, Marcos Benavent, also delivered to the public ministry with documentation and audios of some of the defendants, the lawyer has ruled in the same terms and has stated that they were manipulated .

"All the reports in the case have been made after examining Rosa Pérez's flash drive, not legalized and without chain of custody. Rosa Pérez made a selection of greatest hits, manipulated it and Mariano did exactly the same," he has had an impact.

The Anti-Corruption Prosecutor Pablo Ponce has opposed the annulment and has denied any type of manipulation. "Rosa Pérez's flash drive was handed over to the Investigating Court and the documents were admitted. It was also the subject of analysis by the UCO. We do not understand if there has been any disconnection," he said.

At the same time, he recalled that Marcos Benavent, self-styled 'money junkie', did not state "at any time" throughout the procedure that the audios he recorded were manipulated. "In numerous statements he has said before the judge that the audios were recorded by him and that they were not manipulated," he insisted. However, a few months ago, on the occasion of Imelsa's first trial, for the Thematica piece, the defendant changed his version. The court has ruled out the annulment and has first asked to practice the test.

On the other hand, the Prosecutor's Office has advanced that it has reached an agreement in accordance with 10 of the 26 defendants by which they acknowledge the facts and their sentences have been reduced. In addition, he has requested the testimony of Mariano López and the president of the Provincial Council, Toni Gaspar.

Moments before the previous questions, Francisco Javier Cañizares, one of the defendants, has asked the court to change lawyers: "My lawyer wants me to say that I have worked in Imelsa and it is a lie. I have not worked in Imelsa, I have worked in the socialist party in maintenance", has asserted.

The defendant has requested the turn to speak to ask the court to suspend the trial because he wants a change of lawyer by indicating that he did not feel well defended: "I ask that a public defender defend me," he repeated, to which his lawyer has responded that it was the first news she had in this regard.

"I'm asking you please, I have a lack of confidence in my lawyer," said the defendant, to add: "They have appointed me the lawyer. I want to tell the truth (...) He wants me to say that I have worked in Imelsa and It is a lie. I have not worked in Imelsa, I have worked in the maintenance socialist party", he exposed.

Following her request, the lawyer has expressed to the court her willingness to resign from the defense of her client as she is not in a position to assume his representation.

The court, after studying the petition, has denied it. He has rejected both suspending the trial and for the accused to change lawyers, considering that the allegations raised are "very generic and vague" and that the accused has had a lot of time beforehand to raise this issue.

Upon his arrival at the court before the trial, Rus has stated in statements to the media that he was "very calm" and has insisted on his innocence: "I already want to talk. He has been waiting for seven years," he said.

Rus, questioned by the journalists if he considers himself innocent of the facts attributed to him and for which he faces a sentence of 12 years in prison -as claimed by the public prosecutor's office-, has answered: "Always , forever". "I already want to at least talk, because my lawyers won't let me. Today I had to testify but I don't know how it goes. I have to be here for two months and you will see me every day," he added.

Along with Rus there are other defendants such as the former sub-delegate of the Government in Valencia and former deputy Rafael Rubio (PSPV) and the former regional secretary of Education Máximo Caturla and the former deputy of the PP Salvador Enguix.

This is the second trial of the Imelsa macro-cause, since the first one was tried in May, the one related to Thematica, with the 'money junkie' as the main defendant. The sentence is awaited.

In the pieces that are going to be judged now, B and F, allegedly irregular hiring has been investigated in the public companies Imelsa and Ciegsa, Rus faces a sentence of 12 years in prison and Rubio --also investigated in the well-known as Azud case-- to oros six, according to the provisional qualification of the public prosecutor's office.

The Prosecutor's Office attributes to Rus the crimes of belonging to a criminal organization, a continuous crime of embezzlement of public funds, administrative prevarication and falsification of an official document committed by a public official. Likewise, Rubio is accused of a continued crime of embezzlement of public funds, forgery in an official document and a continued crime of administrative prevarication.

For the former regional secretary of Education Máximo Caturla and the former chief of staff of Rus, Emilio Llopis, he claims the same penalty as for the former president of the Provincial Council for identical crimes, in addition to a fine and disqualification.