Victor de Aldama, named as the alleged director in the Koldo affairpointed out Pedro Sanchez before the investigating judge as the promoter of the famous photograph of the two of them together at the La Latina theater, during a PSOE meeting. Sources present inside the room tell OKDIARIO that the businessman and commission agent said the meeting was “at the request” of Sánchez as a sign of gratitude for the efforts made in Mexico, the country to which he flew away with Jose Luis Abalos the day after. It is about a voluntary declaration as an investigator. The summons was granted at the request of his defense, who sent a letter requesting his appearance to “make a declaration of compliance”.
De Aldama was transferred from prison to a police van around 9:00 a.m.. Meanwhile, prosecution and defense lawyers arrived at the main building of the National Court around 10:00 a.m. Dozens of journalists were at the door, waiting to hear what the Transport Ministry’s point man would say.
Following the judge’s directives, the declaration is made in the Room with a viewwhere Aldama, his defense and the prosecutor are present. For their part, the rest of the accusations and defenses follow the act of the sixth floor of the building. Aldama remains in provisional prison since his arrest in an operation linked to allegations of fraud in the hydrocarbon sector, also investigated by the National Court.
This appearance coincides with new developments in the case, such as the Supreme Court’s recent decision to open case against former minister of Transport José Luis Ábalos. In addition, this Monday a WhatsApp message was made public, in which Aldama warned the former minister that if he continued to mention him in the media, he would do the same.
On Monday, Aldama’s defense presented a brief invoking article 400 of the Code of Criminal Procedure (LECrim), which allows accused persons to request “declare as many times as you wish“. The document indicates that the person indicted is willing to answer the questions of the investigating judge, the prosecutor and his own defense, but not those asked by the other parties. This position would have motivated the judge to place the charges and defenses in another room to follow the event remotely.
The defense concluded its brief by requesting that Aldama’s statement be made immediately, recalling his situation of deprivation of liberty and the need to guarantee his right to defense.
