Bárcenas enjoys his second prison leave after concluding the trial of box b of the PP

Luis Bárcenas, on March 9, during his statement as a defendant in the trial for box b of the PP, held at the National Court.

The ex-treasurer of the PP Luis Bárcenas enjoys from this Tuesday - six days after being seen for sentencing the trial by box b of his party in which he sat on the bench - the second of the two six-day permits that he granted in March the judge of Penitentiary Surveillance of the National Court, José Luis de Castro. Bárcenas, who is being held in the Madrid V prison, in the town of Soto del Real, must return to prison on May 24, according to a document sent by the prison to the Court, to which THE COUNTRY has had access . He enjoyed the first outing between April 4 and 10.

Bárcenas was given the possibility of requesting permits on February 10. That day, the National Court set the maximum time that he had to serve for the sentence of 29 years and 10 months that the Supreme Court imposed on him last October for the so-called Epoch I of the

at 12 years.

. With that computation and with the time he had spent in preventive detention (in two periods he spent 1,602 days in that situation), the ex-treasurer of the PP had already fulfilled, in October 2019, a quarter of his sentence, the temporary requirement contemplated by the Penitentiary Regulations so that prisoners who, like him, are in second degree penitentiary or ordinary regime (in which 80% of the prisoners with a firm sentence are) aspire to these exits. The law establishes a total of 18 days of leave per semester, so that Bárcenas can request one or more more outings before June 30, for a total of another six days.

The possible sentence that the National Court may impose on the former treasurer for the trial of box b will not affect this possibility, as highlighted by Judge De Castro in the order by which he granted the first two exits. The magistrate stressed that the five-year sentence requested for him by the Anti-Corruption Prosecutor's Office in this case will not vary "just" the maximum limit of sentence compliance that has been set by the

. The prison surveillance judge also recalled that the existence of a case without a sentence, such as that of the so-called

, and for which a prison order has not been issued, cannot prevent the granting of a permit "in compliance with the Presumption of innocence".

Bárcenas submitted a request to the prison management to begin enjoying outings shortly after the National High Court set the maximum compliance time. The treatment board - an internal body made up of prison professionals - analyzed it on February 24 and unanimously agreed to propose the granting of two permits, of six days each. The Anticorruption Prosecutor's Office objected in the first instance, but finally Judge De Castro agreed to grant them on March 17. That same day, the magistrate rejected the request that Bárcenas had made that he be classified in the third degree penitentiary or open regime, which would have allowed him to enjoy a semi-release in which he would only have had to go to prison to sleep from Monday to Friday. Thursday.

In the order in which he was granted the permits, the judge noted that, according to the prison educator, the former treasurer has "used his stay in prison from a constructive and educational perspective" and that "his evolution and prison progression" has been "Permanent and constant, improving regimentally and personally, maintaining correct relationships with his fellow inmates and with the professionals at the center." The magistrate emphasized that, when he was on provisional liberty between January 2015 and May 2018, Bárcenas fulfilled the obligations that the National High Court imposed on him at that time "without the will to escape or breach." And he added that prison experts value that the risk of breaking the sentence is "medium-low."

The judge also valued two briefs that the former treasurer had submitted. In one, on March 18, he showed his repentance and described the tax crimes for which he was convicted as "an act of clear lack of solidarity with fellow citizens who punctually comply with their tax obligations." The second was the letter that a few months before, in November 2020, he had sent to the National Court to authorize the repatriation of the funds he had hidden in Switzerland - and which amounted to approximately 20 million euros - to face the responsibility civil that was imposed on him in the conviction. The magistrate highlights that both the educator and the prison psychologist considered that, indeed, Bárcenas had assumed responsibility for the crimes and was "deeply regretful."

Last week, as this newspaper advanced, Bárcenas asked to participate in the

workshop

that will begin in the coming days in the Soto del Real prison, which concludes with a meeting between the inmate and a direct or symbolic victim so that he ask for forgiveness. In the case of Bárcenas, convicted of money laundering, tax crimes and documentary falsification in the

, in which the main affected party was the Treasury, a victim who has suffered a similar criminal offense will be sought. In one of these workshops participated the former Vice President of the Government Rodrigo Rato, convicted of the

to whom the judge granted parole in February for having shown a “favorable prognosis” for reintegration.