The Basque Prosecutor’s Office, headed by Carmen Adán, denounces in the 2023 report, made public last week, coinciding with the opening of the judicial year in Madrid, that at the end of last year “it had unofficial knowledge” of the practically total dismantling of the unit specialized in the investigation of environmental crimes of the Ertzaintza. According to the prosecutor’s office, of the “already diminished” brigade – in 2020 it had only ten members – “all its members except two” have left, “including the chief”. They express their “concern” about the “importance” of “specialization” to tackle very complex plots, such as this type of investigation.
The prosecution indicates that the departures are due to “promotions” and “competitions” and that at the time of writing the report, there had been “no official or formal communication” of the changes, “ignoring the name and position of the new boss.” , as well as the number, studies and training of the new members. ” In any case, the prosecution is pleased that the ertzainas who served as support for the judicial investigations opened after the collapse of the Zaldibar landfill in 2020 continue to be assigned to them even though they have already left this unit.
From the Security Department, now headed by Bingen Zupiria but which was headed by Josu Erkoreka at the time of the changes, they dismiss these criticisms and emphasize that “every time” the Prosecutor’s Office has asked Ertzaintza for something, it has collaborated diligently. They also indicate to this newspaper that “the changes were made at the end of 2023” and that in 2024 “there was a relationship” with the Prosecutor’s Office.
Conflicts with the Basque Government regarding the Environment are almost a classic in the annual reports of the Prosecutor’s Office. In 2022, the organization led by Carmen Adán questioned the willingness of the Environment sector to collaborate on some open cases. The head of the office at the time, Amaia Barredo, with the rank of vice-councilor, ended up being denounced by the Prosecutor’s Office itself and investigated for the alleged commission of a crime of prevarication during the authorization of the Valogreene Paper project in the Gipuzkoan municipality of Bergara. Barredo is now a councilor of Imanol Pradales, although he is not from the Environment, and since this case was resolved, it has moved from a court in Vitoria to the High Court of Justice of the Basque Country, which is the one that will continue the trial. investigation.
And, in 2021, the Prosecutor’s Office also regretted the Ertzaintza’s lack of means to tackle this type of crime, to the point that it showed its preference for the Civil Guard, which for years has had a specialized group called Seprona. There are also environmental groups – and some with a clearly nationalist orientation – that show their preference for the state body rather than the autonomous body. The case raised a lot of political dust to the point that it was one of the points of the PNV’s agreement with Pedro Sánchez for the 2023 investiture. In it, it is indicated that the priority and ordinary police will always be the Ertzaintza in this type of crime. with the exception of plots with a scope greater than the autonomous community.
A clear example of this would be the investigation into the irregular transport of waste from Gipuzkoa to Navarre, in which the body chosen as Judicial Police is the Civil Guard. But it is not the only one. The Prosecutor’s Office indicates that in Gipuzkoa, due to “the fact that it is a border region” with France, “some of the most important cases” are managed by UCOMA, which is the name of Seprona’s central investigation team.
The eternal lack of means against corruption
Adán also insists, as he does every year, on the need to “provide more instruments to investigate” corruption crimes. “It is still very necessary,” he explains in the report, expressly recalling that it is a call he makes year after year. In addition, he asks that “of course” the work continues to offer “clear protection” to people who report these cases. “The difficulty of detecting criminal behavior in the field of public procurement remains evident,” he laments.
The Prosecutor’s Office has verified a “growing” number of anonymous complaints on these issues. “Generally” they are not accompanied by “documentation” and sometimes they arrive with “little clarity” on the facts reported. Thus, the destination of most of these communications is the file. In Euskadi there is no Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office as such, although there is a delegate for economic crimes, José Manuel Ortiz, although in his area of competence there are more problems than corruption, since they also tackle fraud, smuggling or similar cases. In Bizkaia there are four prosecutors, in Gipuzkoa two and in Alava there is not even a specialized section, although it is there that the largest conspiracy known so far was born, the “De Miguel case”, and it is the capital and headquarters of the autonomous institutions.
