The Minister of the InteriorFernando Grande Marlaskagranted in 2022 to Victor de Aldama, he brain and main accused in the Koldo affair for alleged corruption in the purchase of masks, the Order of Merit of the Civil Guard. The concession, with a white badge, is granted to anyone who executes, directs or collaborates in “the success of a service” of “extraordinary difficulty” rendered to “the Fatherland”.
“Execute, direct or collaborate directly in the success of a service in which, due to its extraordinary difficulty and importance, they have proven relevant. professional or civic qualities», explains section 1 of article 9 which governs the attribution of this medal with which the Government decorated Aldama.
The regulation explains that the aim of this type of recognition is to “reward actions or conduct of extraordinary importance which contribute to the prestige of the Civil Guard corps and interest of the country. This reward, of a civil nature, may be granted to the members of the said Body and to any other person or entity who is a creditor.
The concession is registered in the Official Journal of the Civil Guard of September 27, 2022. Two years ago, Minister Marlaska personally signed this concession along with that of others.
The concession announcement reads as follows: “Order of September 23, 2022, by which admission to the Order of Merit of the Civil Guard is granted, in the category assigned to related personnel. On the occasion of the feast of Our Lady of the Virgin of Pilarboss of the body, on the proposal of the director general of the Civil Guard [Mercedes González] and considering them included in the law by which the Order of Merit of the Civil Guard was created, this Ministry saw fit to award the Cross in the aforementioned order, in the category assigned to each, to the personnel and to the entities indicated below. An optional appeal or a contentious-administrative appeal may be filed against this decision before the Central Litigation Courts.
The Marlaska Trail
Marlaska appears cited several times in Aldama’s explosive statement this Thursday at the National Court. Aldama emphasizes that he knows that Delcy Rodríguez, vice-president of Venezuela, was the subject of European sanctions which prohibited her from visiting the Schengen territory. Furthermore, Aldama points out that he was one of the ministers in Pedro Sánchez’s cabinet who had to They shared a table and a tablecloth during a dinner in El Viso (Madrid) with the dictator’s close collaborator Nicolás Maduro.
Aldama points out that Marlaska intervened to “create a Schengen zone so that the vice president could get off the plane and go to the VIP lounge of Executive Terminal 1 in Barajas with all her entourage.” On the other hand, the Minister of the Interior headed one of the departments of the PSOE executive from which hired the controversial company Soluciones de Gestión SL the epicenter of alleged million-dollar commissions resulting from public procurement corruption.
Remove the medal
The Unified Association of Civil Guards (AUGC) requested officially the withdrawal of distinction. The request, made this Friday by the majority association of the organization, reveals the controversy generated for the distinction granted to the businessman, currently on provisional release after having passed one month in preventive detention for his alleged involvement in a million-dollar bribery conspiracy.
“East unacceptable that decorations be awarded to people whose career could contradict the principles of ethics, honesty and commitment which govern our institution”, declared the AUGC in a press release. The association, represented in all units and specialties of the corps, considers that these practices “not only tarnish the prestige of the Civil Guard, but also they deeply hurt the agents “who devote their entire lives to service without receiving the recognition they deserve.”
The request to withdraw the medal comes at a particularly delicate time for the case, after Aldama was provisionally released under the commitment to continuing collaboration with Justice including providing strong evidence against the conspiracy. His recent statements, in which he claims to have incriminating evidence, have increased media attention to the case and its possible political ramifications.
