The Commission of Inquiry of Operation Catalunya transcends in Congress between the confusion and the uselessness of the comparative testimonies. This Tuesday, the former head of Internal Affairs of the Police between February 2012 and December 2014, Marcelino Martín Blas, one of the agents who will sit on the bench for the parapolice espionage of Luis Bárcenas and who tried to convince the deputies that he has nothing to do with the maneuvers against the independence movement.
During Martín Blas’ statement, the paradox occurred: while the retired commissioner was making this statement, he confessed to the interference of his unit in politically biased investigations that had nothing to do with the Internal Affairs Unit he commanded. Influenced by information that has been trying for years to present Martín Blas as the good guy in this police leadership, compared to his enemy, José Manuel Villarejo, some Catalan deputies succumbed to the party’s statements in appearance and showed themselves “very grateful” for his intervention, as was the case of Ensemble spokesperson, Josep Valles.
“I have nothing to do with Operation Catalonia,” said Martín Blas. At the same time, the retired commissioner naturally spoke about how he met with two prosecutors who were investigating CiU’s irregular financing in October 2012, because he believed that “action” should be taken against its treasurer. The action requested by Martín Blas was the search of the party headquarters in the middle of the pre-election campaign, as prosecutors officially denounced at the time.
“I would do it a thousand times”
ERC MP Pilar Villagura asked what the head of the Interior was doing by interfering in an investigation against corruption without there being any police officer under investigation. “I’ve explained it a thousand times. I am a police officer. He was convinced they had committed a crime. I would do it a thousand times,” declared Martín Blas, so much so that he admitted a recurring practice of the political brigade, the use of the Interior as police on the ground.
A judicial investigation managed to credit 19 trips, only by train, of Martín Blas and Villarejo to Catalonia, without the unit commanded by the former having opened an investigation against the national police. The former director of Private Banking of Andorra denounced, and is the subject of an investigation before a court in the neighboring country, the participation of Martín Blas in the blackmail suffered by the owners of the bank to facilitate the Pujols’ accounts, later published in El Mundo. Martín Blas denied any action in this regard, but admitted to having received from Higini Cierco, also from the BPA, a sheet of paper with the accounts and funds of the Pujol family in the bank. “It was worthless. “I broke it,” he said.
The confusion created by Martín Blas’ statements led deputies to believe that the former head of the Interior was fighting against the fabrication of reports within the UDEF, the anti-corruption unit, on the affairs of Catalonia. In reality, Martín Blas transformed his unit into a tool of pressure on the agents who were investigating box B of the PP, already with the Popular Party in government, as revealed by elDiario.es in 2014 and confirmed by years later in Congress. the inspector responsible for these investigations.
The retired commissioner said he was never aware of police activities aimed at harming the PP’s political opponents, despite previous history. And he added that, now retired, he had information. And what is this information or documentation? Well, Villarejo’s diaries published by the media, press articles and other documents which, from what he revealed, are identified with a judicial investigation which is being followed in a Madrid court due to the confluence Venezuelan hierarchs and police officers from the political brigade. Podemos, a legal case in which the political party is involved. This analysis of current events that he carried out as a retiree was welcomed by Podemos spokesperson Martina Velarde. Both she and the deputies of the PSOE, ERC and Junts considered the statements of Martín-Blas to be of great relevance and will request a new appearance of the retired commissioner due to the tight time set for his interventions.
Against Villarejo
After trying to present himself as a current analyst, accredited by his vast police experience, Martín Blas fought one of his battles, the one he fights with another member of this political brigade, Commissioner José Manuel Villarejo. From the analysis of everything that has been published, Martín Blas concluded that Villarejo is the author of the project published by El Mundo and later disseminated by the Unified Police Union on the alleged corruption of Artur Mas and others independence leaders, the one known as “UDEF”. draft.” “. He offered no exclusivity in accusing Villarejo of being behind his preparation.
In his attempt to talk about other topics with which he was not related, Marcelino Martín-Blas mentioned an alleged donation from the FAES foundation, linked to the Popular Party, as part of the CiU corruption plot. He also mentioned the decision of Judge Juan Carlos Peinado to keep in temporary prison a Venezuelan leader whose case was archived for 16 months. The two mentions, known for years, caught the attention of the PSOE spokesperson, who insisted that Martín Blas focus on this, but the retired commissioner only knew what he had read. The donation to FAES was refused by the tax authorities 12 years ago and Nervis Villalobos has already filed a complaint with the Constitutional Court against the decision of the judge who is currently investigating Begoña Gómez.
