Lucia Salinas
03/25/2021 12:41
Clarín.com
Politics
Updated 03/25/2021 12:41 PM
José López has been imprisoned since June 2016, but since 2018 under a different modality: he was the first ex-official of weight who confessed as repentant in the case of the Cuadernos de las Coimas, and since then he
has also been a protected witness
: he remains imprisoned in another unit of the Federal Penitentiary Service.
A few days ago he
requested access to the temporary exits
in the case where he was convicted of illicit enrichment.
In an even smaller space than the one he had within the Ezeiza Prison, López is monitored by the protected witness program.
In an austere accommodation, he receives few visits and goes through the days with few activities: there is no space to move too much and that makes the options are limited.
He does not complain, he does not ask for anything outside of the requirements expressed in the writings of his official defender.
José López said he was relieved when he confessed in the case of the Notebooks and pointed out that Cristina Kirchner was aware of the system that was denounced as
cartelization in public works
, an area of which he was secretary since 2003.
Serving four years in prison, and two and a half years since he received his first conviction for corruption, José López asked the Federal Oral Court 1 (TOF 1) to
access the temporary exits.
His sentence for illicit enrichment has
not yet been reviewed by the Chamber of Cassation
, however, judicial sources explained to
Clarín
that "it would be in advance of voluntary execution of sentence, and
could have the same benefits as a convicted person with a final sentence
."
The former secretary of Public Works requested that he be allowed to start leaving prison.
The judges who must decide in this regard are
Ricardo Basilico, Adrián Grünberg and José Michilini,
who in June 2019 found him responsible for the crime of illicit enrichment, disbelieving in his claim that he maintained that the money he sought to hide in a convent in the early morning of that June 14 did not belong to him.
The situation is complicated at one point: López is repentant and an accused collaborator in the case of the Notebooks, where he added several prosecutions and was sent to oral proceedings along with Julio De Vido and Cristina Kirchner, among others.
Therefore, if temporary exits are allowed, it would be necessary to organize the monitoring and protection of their safety.
This forced the magistrates to analyze the request in greater detail.
On the other hand, the Chamber of Cassation called a hearing on April 14 and then it will have twenty days to decide whether or not to confirm the conviction for illicit enrichment against López.
The former official is now facing a second trial, which he shares with the vice president for the alleged
directing of public works in favor of Lázaro Báez
, but remains imprisoned in the cause that led to his first conviction: the case of bags with 9 million of dollars.
The early morning image of June 14, 2016 showed a desperate José López trying to hide
several bags with almost 9 million dollars
, 153,000 euros, 59,000 pesos
in a General Rodríguez convent
;
Rolex watches, jewelry valued at 452,000 pesos and weapons.
That day he was given preventive detention, which from this Wednesday became his sentence for enrichment.
Those kidnapped assets and money were confiscated, and later they were allocated in equal parts to the Garrahan Pediatric Hospital and the Gutiérrez Children's Hospital.
The house in Dique Luján, valued at $ 480,000, was also seized: the former official K maintained that he was renting it but the Justice maintained that he sought to hide the ownership of the property.