The trial being held by the National Court regarding the so-called 'Operation Kitchen' enters its third week with the most anticipated testimonies of the process. In this new phase, the appearances of former President of the Government Mariano Rajoy, former PP treasurer Luis Bárcenas, his wife Rosalía Iglesias, and former Popular Party Secretary General and former Minister of Defense, María Dolores de Cospedal, stand out.
The headquarters of the National Court in San Fernando de Henares (Madrid) will host the statements of Bárcenas and Rosalía Iglesias on Monday, who are appearing as accusers in the case about the alleged parapolice device promoted from the Ministry of the Interior of Rajoy's Executive to steal sensitive information from the former treasurer. On the same day, Manuel Morocho, inspector of the Economic and Fiscal Crimes Unit (UDEF) of the National Police, will also testify.
On Thursday it will be the turn, as witnesses, of Rajoy himself and Cospedal, in addition to Juan Ignacio Zoido, who replaced Jorge Fernández Díaz at the head of the Ministry of the Interior.
At the start of the oral hearing, the popular prosecution, brought by the PSOE, requested that the trial be suspended to deepen the investigation into Cospedal and her ex-husband, initially investigated in the case, although the proceedings against both were subsequently dismissed.
On Wednesday, in the afternoon session and already at the judicial headquarters on Génova street in Madrid, the testimony of businessman Ignacio López del Hierro, Cospedal's ex-husband, is scheduled. On that day, Arturo González Panero, former mayor of Boadilla del Monte (Madrid), and lawyer Javier Iglesias will also appear. For Tuesday, also in Génova, about a dozen National Police agents have been summoned.
Rajoy's role in the spotlight
The trial, which began in early April, has placed Rajoy at the center of the debate in recent sessions. The head of the police investigation confirmed before the AN court that the alleged plot referred to him by the aliases "El Asturiano" or "El Barbas".
According to the inspector's account, retired commissioner José Manuel Villarejo boasted about the "pressure mechanisms" he could exert on the former president and even threatened to "take him down" and cause him "trouble," stating in a conversation that he "would have compromising information" about him.
The agent also detailed that Bárcenas would have tried to eliminate some files with alleged conversations between him and the then president Rajoy, for which he would have resorted to a prison mate. That assignment, however, was never carried out.
In a note intercepted from that inmate, which has been incorporated into the oral hearing, the former treasurer allegedly wrote the instruction: "All of M.R.'s audios must be destroyed when I give you the order".
The main defendants and the calendar
On the bench sit the former Minister of the Interior Jorge Fernández Díaz, his former Secretary of State for Security Francisco Martínez, the former Deputy Operational Director (DAO) of the National Police Eugenio Pino, and Commissioner Andrés Gómez Gordo. For all of them, the Anti-Corruption Prosecutor's Office requests sentences of up to 15 years in prison.
Also listed as a defendant is retired commissioner Villarejo, for whom the Public Prosecutor's Office seeks 19 years in prison, as well as Sergio Ríos, Bárcenas' former driver, against whom there is a prosecutorial request for 12 years and five months in prison.
The National High Court's forecast is that about 150 witnesses will pass through the courtroom and that the hearing will last until June 30. The procedural calendar contemplates that the accused will testify in the final phase of the trial.