Miguel Ángel Gallardo, former president of the Badajoz Provincial Council and former leader of the PSOE of Extremadura, has appealed the sentence that sentenced him to 18 years of disqualification for two crimes of administrative prevarication related to the hiring of David Sánchez, brother of the President of the Government.
In an appeal to which DEMÓCRATA has had access, his defense requests the Superior Court of Justice of Extremadura to revoke the ruling of the Provincial Court of Badajoz and acquit him of the two crimes for which he was convicted.
The document, dated October 13, questions the assessment of the evidence made by the court and denies that there was a preconceived plan to create a position in the Provincial Council with the purpose of awarding it to David Sánchez. The defense argues that the facts established during the trial do not allow for the conclusion that Gallardo promoted the creation of that position to favor the brother of the President of the Government.
"We categorically deny that Mr. Miguel Ángel Gallardo decided, alone or in conjunction with others, the creation of the position with a view to awarding it to Mr. David Sánchez Pérez-Castejón", states the appeal, which invokes the violation of the right to the presumption of innocence.
The ruling of the First Section of the Provincial Court of Badajoz, issued on July 14, imposed two special disqualification penalties on Gallardo for administrative prevarication. The court considered that his actions were linked both to the creation and awarding of the position of coordinator of the activities of the conservatories as well as to the subsequent modification of the name of the position held by David Sánchez. The resolution is not final and is being appealed by the parties.
Four reasons to request acquittal
The appeal articulates four reasons. The first two are directed against the convictions for prevarication. The defense argues, in the first, that there is not enough evidence to establish that the coordinator position was created with the purpose of being occupied by David Sánchez, who has also appealed the sentence. In the second, it questions the conviction linked to the modification of the position and argues that both the presumption of innocence and the principle of legal criminality have been violated.
The defense admits that the Government team of the Diputación agreed to create the position of coordinator of the activities of the conservatories in October 2016. What it rejects is that this decision was made to hire Pedro Sánchez's brother, who at that time did not hold the General Secretariat of the PSOE, although Gallardo has several photographs with Sánchez prior to the creation of this position in the first primary campaign, in the triumph of those primaries, and in the Royal Palace.
The document argues that the evidence gathered by the court does not demonstrate that purpose and allows for other interpretations of the facts.
It also discusses the relevance that the ruling attributes to different elements of the selection procedure, to the emails, and to the statements made during the trial. In relation to the second conviction, the defense questions whether the modification of the name of the position can substantiate the crime of prevarication in the terms established by the Court.
The third reason refers to the reservation of actions that the clarification ruling of the sentence, issued on September 16, left open regarding a block of facts whose prosecution was excluded for Gallardo during the procedure. His defense requests that this reservation also be rendered ineffective.
Subsidiarily, limit the disqualification
The main request is the acquittal of the two crimes of prevarication. However, the appeal includes a subsidiary request in case the appeals court upholds the convictions: to limit the scope of the special disqualification.
The defense argues that the penalty should be confined to the Presidency of the Diputación of Badajoz and to the impossibility of obtaining analogous elective positions in local public administrations. It thus argues that the disqualification should not extend to other discretionary public positions, as established by the clarified ruling.
The appeal must be resolved by the Civil and Criminal Chamber of the Superior Court of Justice of Extremadura, before which Gallardo's lawyer also requests the holding of a hearing.
The appeal comes after the statement of Judge Biedma
The appeal is presented while, in a different case, the investigation by the National Court into the alleged maneuvers against Judge Beatriz Biedma, who instructed the proceedings against David Sánchez. The magistrate appeared on October 8 as a victim before Judge Santiago Pedraz and reported that she had felt anguish upon learning of possible actions directed against her and her family environment. Biedma explained that she could not attribute those maneuvers to a specific person with certainty.
One day before the filing of Gallardo's appeal, on October 13, Pedraz agreed to summon former judge Luis José Sáenz de Tejada as an investigated party for alleged crimes of criminal organization, defamation, coercion, and against moral integrity.
The decision came after Biedma requested that her possible involvement in the reported maneuvers be investigated. Sáenz de Tejada has denied the accusations and has questioned the actions of the Central Operational Unit of the Civil Guard. His statement is scheduled for October 28.
The investigation examines, among other aspects, the testimony of Cintia Rocho, who claimed that Sáenz de Tejada had spoken of "eliminating" the magistrate. This is a statement recorded in the proceedings that the former judge rejects. The case seeks to clarify whether there were coordinated actions to harass or discredit the judge, without the indictment equating to a declaration of guilt.
In parallel, Gallardo's appeal joins those filed by David Sánchez and by the Prosecutor's Office against the ruling of the Provincial Court of Badajoz. The Public Prosecutor's Office has also requested that the convictions be revoked, questioning whether the resolution substantiates the necessary elements to appreciate the crime of prevarication.
The conviction of Gallardo, therefore, remains pending judicial review. The TSJ of Extremadura must now decide whether to confirm the first-instance ruling, modify the scope of the penalties, or accept the requests for acquittal made in the appeals.