The spokesperson for the Federal Executive of the PSOE, Montse Mínguez, denounced this Saturday that an accelerated judicial calendar is being promoted in proceedings affecting socialists, with the intention that Pedro Sánchez's Executive "falls before the summer".
In relation to the imminent sentence of the trial of former minister and former Organization Secretary José Luis Ábalos, scheduled for next week, Mínguez stresses that she cannot assume responsibilities for someone who has not been a member of the party "for two and a half years".
The socialist leader reproaches the "haste" with which the National Court judge José Luis Calama has summoned former president José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero to testify as an investigated person, while, in her opinion, in other proceedings affecting the PP, judicial times advance much more slowly.
In an interview on the program 'Parlamento' on 'RNE', collected by Europa Press, Mínguez reiterates her confidence in the former president and emphasizes that, for now, there are only police investigations about him and no firm judicial ruling that points to him as guilty.
THE UCO'S SUSPICIONS MUST BE PROVEN
"In this country we are lately accustomed to everything written in a UCO report being taken for granted as true," laments the spokesperson, who demands respect for Zapatero's presumption of innocence.
Even so, she acknowledges that "there are explanations that have to be given" and trusts that he can offer them in his statement before the judge, initially scheduled for June 2nd and later postponed to next week, Wednesday the 17th and Thursday the 18th.
"A judicial calendar is being set for us with a lot of haste so that this government falls before the summer," insists Mínguez, who recalls that in the coming days not only Zapatero will testify, but also Sánchez's wife, Begoña Gómez, will reappear before the judge; the sentence of the Ábalos case will be known, and the director of the Guardia Civil, Mercedes González, will go to the Senate to explain the meetings she held with former socialist militant Leire Díez, known as the PSOE's 'plumber'.
NARBONA IS "CALM"
"There is a lot of haste in judicial matters affecting the left and a lot of slowness with judicial matters affecting the right," she denounces, citing the case of former PP minister Cristóbal Montoro, "who has been indicted for a year and no one has called him to testify yet".
In contrast, she criticizes that Zapatero was charged one day and had to appear within a week, although he requested more time "to be able to defend himself," explains the spokesperson, who is confident that the former president will be able to dispel doubts. "We will listen because surely everything will have its explanation," she adds.
Mínguez also reiterates her support for the president of the PSOE, Cristina Narbona, summoned as a witness by Judge Santiago Pedraz at the Audiencia Nacional in the framework of the 'Leire Díez case,' following messages she exchanged with the former militant.
In this context, she maintains that Narbona "is calm" because she has admitted knowing Díez, but that does not imply, she emphasizes, that she is "guilty." "In this country, the right to assembly exists," she criticizes, convinced that the party president will be able to clarify before the magistrate whatever is asked of her "with total normality."
THEY CONTINUE ANALYZING WHETHER TO SUE DÍEZ
The socialist spokesperson also supports the director of the Guardia Civil, Mercedes González, about whom she states that she has offered sufficient explanations and in whom she maintains "confidence in her." According to a UCO report incorporated into the summary of the 'Leire Díez case,' the former militant allegedly held meetings with González for her to "initiate administrative actions" against the very agents investigating the case.
Mínguez reiterates that the PSOE does not rule out filing a lawsuit against Leire Díez, as some internal sectors demand, although she clarifies that they are still analyzing the matter and "looking at the documentation" before "making a decision afterwards."
"At no time has it been ruled out and at no time has it been said that it would be done immediately. These are judicial matters where a lot of documentation has to be looked at, and therefore it is being evaluated," she explains, emphasizing that she "never" saw Díez at the Ferraz headquarters and that she doesn't even have her phone number.
SHE DISTANCES HERSELF FROM ÁBALOS
Regarding the possible damage to the PSOE from a potential conviction of Ábalos, Mínguez insists that the former minister left the socialist ranks "a long time ago."
"Ábalos has defended himself against what he is being accused of, and from here he should await his sentence, but the PSOE will not respond about a person who is not part of the party," she stresses.
Furthermore, remember that Sánchez already offered public explanations on this matter, asked for forgiveness from the citizenry and the militancy, and removed both Ábalos and his successor, Santos Cerdán, from positions of responsibility.