The corpse of the president of the Provincial Council and of the PP of León, Isabel Carrasco, covered with a blanket on the bridge over the Bernesga, in León, in 2014. Carlos S. Campillo / ICAL
The murder of Isabel Carrasco, the president of the Provincial Council of León shot to death in May 2014, has erupted this Monday in the second trial that is being held in the National Court for the
Punic case
.
The main Civil Guard investigator on this corruption plot, who has testified in court, has detailed how the successor of the PP leader, Marcos Martínez Barazón, took office on an interim basis after the crime and how, due to Because his figure was highly questioned within the institution and within the party itself, he decided to turn to the alleged criminal network to "consolidate his position" and "continue" in the position he had just inherited.
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The second trial of Púnica marks the path of 34 senior PP officials already prosecuted for the plot
“Martínez, after the death of Isabel Carrasco, needed to consolidate his position as president of the Provincial Council.
And, for that reason, he intended to improve his reputation
online
”, stressed the agent of the Central Operating Unit (UCO) of the armed institute.
In this part of the summary, the investigators concluded that public funds were diverted to pay for private work on digital reputation for the benefit of PP politicians, for which they contacted businessmen Alejandro de Pedro and José Antonio Alonso Conesa, who in the past was Socialist mayor of Cartagena (Murcia).
In its indictment, the Prosecutor's Office maintains that the plot landed in the Provincial Council during the presidency of Isabel Carrasco.
According to the public ministry, De Pedro and Alonso "arranged" with her to do "work aimed at cleaning up and taking care of her reputation on social networks, and to neutralize the effects of the negative news that was published about her by other means in the network, such as its involvement in legal cases and allegations of corruption”.
An operation that Martínez Barazón, also mayor of the municipality of Cuadros, allegedly knew about, and to which he resorted after taking office.
Marcos Martínez Barazón, former president of the León Provincial Council for the PP, is received by residents of the town of Cuadros after being released from prison following his arrest in Púnica, in 2014J.
Casares (EFE)
In his case, as the Civil Guard stressed on Monday, Carrasco's successor sought to perpetuate himself in the position he had just assumed.
"Alejandro de Pedro offered to convey the message to senior officials of the national PP to support the figure of Marcos Martínez, and defend his continuity [...] They offered to arrange meetings with officials to help him in his need to sustain himself as president" , explained the UCO agent, who mentioned that these contacts would take place at a party convention that was held in Murcia, which was attended by senior leaders of the formation, such as María Dolores de Cospedal, then general secretary of the popular .
In this context, the Prosecutor's Office frames the online
reputation work
in favor of Martínez Barazón, for whom he is asking for eight years in prison in this second trial of
the Púnica case
: "After the death of the president in May 2014, the defendant held the Presidency in functions of the Provincial Council.
His interest in making himself known to the citizens of León, building a positive identity on social networks and receiving advice for his political promotion was used by De Pedro and Alonso to agree on a new plan with him ”.