In the first row, from the left, Francisco Granados, Ignacio González and Esperanza Aguirre, at the Madrid Assembly in 2009.Luis Sevillano
The PSOE and the Association of Democratic Lawyers for Europe (Adade), appeared as popular accusation in the
Punic case
, have asked the National Court to sit on the bench and condemn the PP and the 72 popular deputies who were elected in the 2011 elections to the Community of Madrid as participants for profit, including former presidents Esperanza Aguirre, Ignacio González and Cristina Cifuentes—, for benefiting from the alleged irregular financing plot of the regional party.
The Socialists raise it in their accusation on the line of investigation focused on box b of the autonomous formation, for which they also request more than 26 years in prison for Francisco Granados, former counselor and former general secretary of the PP of Madrid;
and 17 years and 6 months for Beltrán Gutiérrez, former manager of the political force.
More information
The second trial of Púnica marks the path of 34 senior PP officials already prosecuted for the plot
Last October, the investigating judge Manuel García-Castellón issued the indictment in Separate Piece 9 of Púnica, which addresses the irregular financing of the PP of Madrid and a part of the
online
reputation works paid with public money for the benefit of members Of the information.
In that resolution, the magistrate proposed to try only eight defendants and filed the case against a total of 71 people, including Aguirre and González.
And now, although the PSOE itself and the Anti-Corruption Prosecutor's Office have appealed that decision to expand the list of defendants -the public prosecutor's office only partially-, the socialists have already put their indictment on the table, where they propose the penalties that must be prevail over those involved.
The party headed by Pedro Sánchez proposes jail sentences for the eight accused by the judge: Francisco Granados (for whom he is asking for 26 years and 1 month in jail);
Beltrán Gutiérrez (17 years and 6 months);
Isabel Gallego (27 years and 1 month), Aguirre's former press officer;
Borja Sarasola, former director of Ignacio González (59 years and 3 months);
businessman Alejandro de Pedro (49 years old);
Francisco Lobo (9 years old), former technical secretary of the Ministry of Transport and Finance;
José Martínez Nicolás (17 years and 7 months), former CEO of the Information Technology and Communications Agency, dependent on the Community;
and Diego Mora (14 years old), a former worker at the Indra company.
But also, as stated in their indictment, dated this Wednesday and to which EL PAÍS had access, the Socialists ask that the PP and the 72 regional deputies of the party who were elected be condemned as participants for profit, so that they respond with their patrimony because "they benefited from excess electoral spending and irregular financing, and from their concealment for the 2011 elections."
The PSOE details that, since the arrival of Aguirre to the Government of Madrid in 2003, the regional PP "put into practice a plan that involved the diversion of public funds, in order to subsidize expenses of his political training."
"We are facing a plan created to use the institutions for private benefit and from them prevaricate and embezzle continuously," emphasizes the letter, which attributes to those involved electoral crimes, bribery, influence peddling, contract simulation, administrative prevarication, embezzlement, forgery and disclosure of privileged information.
García-Castellón considered, like the Prosecutor's Office, that the irregularities detected in the 2007 and 2008 elections have prescribed.
And regarding those of 2011, added the instructor, there is only enough evidence to accuse Gutiérrez and Granados.
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