José Antonio González, postman by profession and former councilor of the PP in Mijas, could have invented the character of Manuel Redondo to file a complaint, but this presented traits of plausibility, so that González, the person behind the character, cannot be the perpetrator of the crime of false complaint. This is how the Superior Court of Justice of Andalusia (TSJA) settled the case Postman, of which González was ultimately acquitted after being convicted at first instance.
The TSJA thus annuls the sentence handed down by the Malaga Provincial Court, which sentenced him a year ago to eight months in prison and a fine of 2,160 euros for having reported a City Hall contract under a pseudonym, knowing that it was not irregular (according to the Court), with the aim of harming Ciudadanos, who then ruled the municipality.
“The facts themselves” must be false
The acquittal, pronounced by the TSJA after González’s appeal, is based on the notion of “false complaint”. For there to be such a thing, and therefore a crime, “the facts themselves” must be false, regardless of how the complainant characterizes them, they must constitute a crime and the complainant must be “aware of the lie” who he accuses. Unlike those of the Court, the three judges of the Appeals Chamber of the TSJA believe that what Redondo (or González) said in his complaint cannot “be described as false”, so that what González did through Redondo was not a false complaint.
The judgment highlights indicative elements which established the plausibility of the complaint. Thus, it is emphasized that the contractual technician of Mijas had signed a report proposing to withdraw from the public tender for the award of the trip. Also, that the contract was awarded to a hotel where serious hygiene and structural defects had been noted. And he was signed after two of the three travel teams were already complete.
The Plenary addressed the lack of budgetary coverage by approving extrajudicial credit recognition (something legal and very common in town halls). González knew this when he filed his complaint, but the TSJA emphasizes that this does not correct any possible irregularities in the file, much less that González already knew that what he was reporting was not a crime. “The fact that the complaint does not add that the invoice was finally paid thanks to its extrajudicial recognition (…) does not make the rest of what is related there false,” specify the magistrates.
The TSJA recognizes that the complaint was presented with “a clear spirit of criticism and even discredit towards the members of the municipal government team, including the mayor.” He concludes, however, that its “objective content” is not false.
It is “reasonable” to think that Redondo was González
Everything is part of the contract for the elderly of Mijas (91,691 inhabitants) of a seven-day trip to the Algarve (Portugal) in February 2017. The municipality awarded the package to Halcón Viajes for 301,780 euros, at the rate of 261.80 euros per person. of the 1,150 places offered, despite the technician’s opposition due to the deficiencies she had noted in the hotel. In September 2018, eight months before the elections and one year and four months after the events, a person filed a complaint with the public prosecutor’s office for alleged administrative wrongdoing. It was signed by Manuel Redondo Gámez.
Like the judges of the Provincial Court, those of the TSJA have no doubt that González was Redondo and the author of the complaint. “His paternity is reasonably inferred from the evidence produced,” they write. González was a municipal mailman, which made him essential for keeping up to date with court notifications to a non-existent person. He left a trail of clues leading to him.
Manuel Redondo Gámez is the name that González or the PP Mijeño (as Ciudadanos always believed and the Provincial Court slipped) chose to file a complaint for the alleged irregularities in the subscription of the trip for the elderly. One more in the years of bitter legal war between the local groups of the PP and Ciudadanos, led at the time by two men who had fierce hatred for each other since the breakdown of their government coalition: Ángel Nozal (PP) and Juan Carlos. Maldonado (Ciudadanos), then mayor.
The deception was revealed when the Civil Guard searched for him to ratify the complaint and verified that there was no one in Spain with that name. Manuel Redondo Gámez, retired, does not exist. Then the prosecutor filed a first complaint, turned around and brought his accusation against the alleged perpetrator of the deception.
His complaint against González allowed Maldonado to appear in court, here as a witness and injured party. When the case was decided, in November 2023, Maldonado had once again shown signs of his now-legendary ability to choose the most convenient option to stay in power. After leaving Ciudadanos and being the sole advisor of his new party, Por mi Pueblo, he changed sides again: three months after having supported the Ciudadanos-PSOE government, he supported the motion of censure of the PP and Vox to become second deputy mayor of the corporation. is now led by Ana Mata (PP).
