José Castro may be thanking his lucky stars that he's not younger. As it is, he would normally have retired earlier. He stayed on until he was 72. There were investigations and continuity that needed him.
Judge Castro, the hero of the people, Judge Dread for some (those in his sights); he rode into court - well, not quite - on his high-powered bike. On a steel horse he rode, wanting them dead or alive. Not, it should be said, that there were too many deaths, other than natural ones. Who was it coined the "Sicily without the bodies" bon mot? Matias Vallés or Andreu Manresa, so it is argued. If he were a younger man, one begins to wonder if he might discover the bodies. If there are any: allegedly, always allegedly, the stock adverb to constantly be applied.
Cursach came too late for Judge Castro. He, Cursach, was in any event the domain of another judge, Manuel Penalva. In a way, Penalva stumbled across Cursach. He wasn't the prime target, but investigations have a funny way - funny, hilarious, troubling, convoluted, despicable ways of finding their unexpected courses. The course that led to Cursach started with some suspect police exams. Mallorca never ceases to surprise and amaze.
Someone else deserved the limelight, if this is the right way to describe being the investigating judge for a case that eclipses any others to have preceded it. The limelight might not genuinely be what any judge wants. Not with this case. Penalva awaits a decision on his possible recusal. And you have to ask why and how this possibility has come about.
But to return to the now retired Castro. Some will say that he enjoyed, even cultivated the limelight. I don't think he did either. His high-profile status couldn't have meant anything else other than the limelight. As with prosecutors, such as Pedro Horrach, eminent investigating judges have celebrity thrust upon them. It goes with the territory. This is Mallorca, this is Spain, where judges and prosecutors are as well-known as any celebrity villains (alleged or proven) they pursue.
He became a judge in 1976. He started out in Seville. He came to Mallorca in 1985. He was initially a judge with the social court dealing with employment and labour affairs. Six years later he went to the Court of Instruction, the principal court for criminal investigation. He stayed there. He is the longest serving judge in the Balearics and quite possibly in Spain. Such longevity is bound to rub off in the form of some celebrity.
We know him mainly because of the names he is associated with. He investigated a former president of the Balearics, Jaume Matas. The cases against Matas are still arriving in court. But years before, soon after moving to the Court of Instruction, there was a serving president in whom he took an interest. Castro, it is said, was convinced that Gabriel Cañellas was behind the so-called "caso Calvia", one into bribery at Calvia town hall. The Balearic High Court was to decide that there wasn't evidence.
There have also been Princess Cristina and her husband Iñaki Urdangarin, with Matas almost a bit-part supporting actor to the principals in the "caso Nóos". Castro believed there was a case against the princess. Horrach didn't. There was, as a result, something of a professional falling-out, but he insists that they have remained friends. The disagreement nevertheless served to cloud the public's perceptions not just of the princess but also of judge and prosecutor. Those perceptions are probably still clouded.
Castro accepted the prosecution of the so-called and now discredited far-right union, Manos Limpias. As someone who was approached by Podemos to stand for election, his independence - politically and legally - was impeccable. The disagreement with Horrach was impeccable; they just saw and interpreted things differently. In a recent interview, he said that the Infanta (Cristina) was "the éminence grise". A definition of this is "a person who exercises power or influence in a certain sphere without holding an official position". In that interview, he set out in quite staggering detail what he believed was the case against the princess.
So, he has now retired. Mallorca has lost its most famous judge, one held in massive regard by the public. Penalva is an unwitting recipient of the baton of public interest. One can only wonder what Castro makes of events and wonder if he would have wanted to be the investigator. Not that a judge necessarily chooses to be; he or she can't avoid the responsibility.
And it is an almighty responsibility. There will be those who query the judicial process here, and I am one of them. This process, because of its highly public character, places judges and prosecutors under greater pressure than would otherwise be the case. They deal with it, and it is remarkable that they do.
Showing posts with label Judge José Castro. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Judge José Castro. Show all posts
Wednesday, December 06, 2017
Monday, November 16, 2015
Podemos Versus The Hoteliers
80% of Mallorcans can't be wrong. Or can they be? It was one of those website poll things. Do you agree that Mallorca's hoteliers act against the best interests of the Balearics (or words to that effect)? In fact, it was 84% who agreed when I happened to look at the results a few days ago. The question was posed after Dave Spart (the Podemos leader) accused the lovely Inma Benito of the hoteliers' federation and indeed the entire hotelier class of disloyalty towards the Balearics and called upon the whole of the tourism industry (that which isn't hotelier-based presumably) to "disavow" the hoteliers.
Such strength of support may strike you as surprising. Here, after all, is a sector of the economy without which Mallorca would be an underdeveloped society with its people eking out meagre earnings from the sale of artisan craft pots and cabbages at solidarity markets in the island's pueblos, which most of the inhabitants would have long abandoned in order to seek greater riches in other lands. Talk about ingratitude.
There again, one can perhaps understand the support for the Podemos stance. When "Forbes" releases figures which show that leading hoteliers are down to their last billion or so, despite having moaned for several years about lack of profitability, sympathy is likely to be in short supply. Just as it would be at the news that Riu had hoovered up a couple of islands in the Maldives, only for a state of emergency to be declared. No sense of schadenfreude there, then.
Dave and comrade Podemistas were agitated by two things. One was that Inma had gone to London and openly attacked the government of which Podemos isn't officially a part for its temerity in introducing a tourist tax. The worst that Inma came out with, as far as I'm aware, was that she called the tax "anti-business". But never mind, the Podemistas were gunning for her anyway. The other point had to do with the hoteliers raking in small fortunes, enough to keep them in super yachts and Rolexes, while subjecting a downtrodden workforce to 100 hours or so a week hard labour on temporary contracts in return for a couple of euros in their wage packets (I do exaggerate).
It was this, the working terms and conditions, which, one fancies, is why most of the 84% agreed with Dave. And then, just to reinforce the impression that the hoteliers can't abide the Podemistas (if reinforcement were needed), Inma said that she couldn't meet them for what would doubtless be a mutual slanging-match until the day after the general election. At this point, The Boot Girl (Laura Camargo) entered the fray and accused the hoteliers of hiding and of further disloyalty, adding that if she were the head of the hoteliers' federation, she would "never in her life" go to London and criticise the government's tourist tax. Of course, the chances of Laura actually ever being "in her life" the head of the federation are slightly less than zero. Indeed, why Laura would even contemplate being in charge of the hoteliers, when she appears to prefer that they didn't exist, was a curious remark to say the least.
Meanwhile, and following the signing-up of the former chief of the defence staff to the Podemista election ranks, it emerged that contacts had been ongoing between Dave, Pablo Iglesias and Judge Dredd over the possibility that he, Judge José Castro, would also throw his hat into the Podemos election ring. Dave was positively gushing in his praise for the man who has pursued Matas, Urdangarin and others with such vigour and rigour. "A symbolic reference for anti-corruption and democratic regeneration," said Dave. Apparently, Pablo had been on the blower to the judge to once more sound him out about becoming a Podemista. And the judge responded that he was flattered to have been considered but he still had a day job - persecuting the corrupt - for another two years as he had been allowed to delay his retirement.
All good publicity for Podemos no doubt, but potentially a tad awkward for the judge. Defence counsels might even now be considering political neutrality, as Iglesias reckons that the judge would have joined up had he retired when he should have, i.e. in time for the general election. Anyway, 80% of Mallorcans, when asked by an online poll, believed that Judge Dredd was right to decline the polite offer. Were the 80% wrong or right? Let's have an online poll.
Such strength of support may strike you as surprising. Here, after all, is a sector of the economy without which Mallorca would be an underdeveloped society with its people eking out meagre earnings from the sale of artisan craft pots and cabbages at solidarity markets in the island's pueblos, which most of the inhabitants would have long abandoned in order to seek greater riches in other lands. Talk about ingratitude.
There again, one can perhaps understand the support for the Podemos stance. When "Forbes" releases figures which show that leading hoteliers are down to their last billion or so, despite having moaned for several years about lack of profitability, sympathy is likely to be in short supply. Just as it would be at the news that Riu had hoovered up a couple of islands in the Maldives, only for a state of emergency to be declared. No sense of schadenfreude there, then.
Dave and comrade Podemistas were agitated by two things. One was that Inma had gone to London and openly attacked the government of which Podemos isn't officially a part for its temerity in introducing a tourist tax. The worst that Inma came out with, as far as I'm aware, was that she called the tax "anti-business". But never mind, the Podemistas were gunning for her anyway. The other point had to do with the hoteliers raking in small fortunes, enough to keep them in super yachts and Rolexes, while subjecting a downtrodden workforce to 100 hours or so a week hard labour on temporary contracts in return for a couple of euros in their wage packets (I do exaggerate).
It was this, the working terms and conditions, which, one fancies, is why most of the 84% agreed with Dave. And then, just to reinforce the impression that the hoteliers can't abide the Podemistas (if reinforcement were needed), Inma said that she couldn't meet them for what would doubtless be a mutual slanging-match until the day after the general election. At this point, The Boot Girl (Laura Camargo) entered the fray and accused the hoteliers of hiding and of further disloyalty, adding that if she were the head of the hoteliers' federation, she would "never in her life" go to London and criticise the government's tourist tax. Of course, the chances of Laura actually ever being "in her life" the head of the federation are slightly less than zero. Indeed, why Laura would even contemplate being in charge of the hoteliers, when she appears to prefer that they didn't exist, was a curious remark to say the least.
Meanwhile, and following the signing-up of the former chief of the defence staff to the Podemista election ranks, it emerged that contacts had been ongoing between Dave, Pablo Iglesias and Judge Dredd over the possibility that he, Judge José Castro, would also throw his hat into the Podemos election ring. Dave was positively gushing in his praise for the man who has pursued Matas, Urdangarin and others with such vigour and rigour. "A symbolic reference for anti-corruption and democratic regeneration," said Dave. Apparently, Pablo had been on the blower to the judge to once more sound him out about becoming a Podemista. And the judge responded that he was flattered to have been considered but he still had a day job - persecuting the corrupt - for another two years as he had been allowed to delay his retirement.
All good publicity for Podemos no doubt, but potentially a tad awkward for the judge. Defence counsels might even now be considering political neutrality, as Iglesias reckons that the judge would have joined up had he retired when he should have, i.e. in time for the general election. Anyway, 80% of Mallorcans, when asked by an online poll, believed that Judge Dredd was right to decline the polite offer. Were the 80% wrong or right? Let's have an online poll.
Saturday, February 28, 2015
A Politician With No Idea
"I have no idea." As statements from politicians go, you couldn't ask for a better one than this, and who better to deliver it than the Partido Popular gift who keeps on giving, Mabel At The Table Cabrer? Never normally lost for a word or several - calling the opposition Nazis, for instance - the PP parliamentary goatherd was for once reduced to four-word cluelessness (actually there are five words in both Spanish and Catalan). Yet earlier in the week, Mabel had been vocalising in shouty spokesperson mode when condemning the "crusade" being led by the opposition against her own crusader, the Dracula-caped one, battling corruption wherever it may lurk. Be amazed as José Ramón fights the fraudulent. Gasp as he despatches the deceitful and expels the embezzlers. But Mabel would have been sore afeared at the sight of Judge Dredd roaring towards the courts on his Harley steel horse. The judge who should be dreaded, the OAP oath taker José Castro had been hearing from an axe-grinder.
Javier Rodrigo de Santos, the newly saintly Rodrigo, released from the penance of his misuse of his Palma town hall credit card and rent boys, was twisting the knife. Beans were spilling from His Holiness Rod (dismissed as a "confessed and convicted offender" by another spokesperson, Miguel Ramis) and they amounted to a great deal more than a hill. A mountain was built, and Rodrigo was music to the ears of the judge and subsequently of the anti-corruption prosecutors. Construction businesses had benefited from having been given public works contracts in exchange for which they had been handing 3% commissions to the Jaume Matas-era PP.
It was these commissions that Mabel had no idea about. She could proudly proclaim that she was now part of a PP that was totally new and which had nothing to do with the old Matas model PP. In Bauzá's new model PP army, things are different. Oh, by the way, Mabel had been the minister for public works under Matas.
The blood freshly dripping from the jugular of the revenge of Rodrigo, the vultures swooped. Biel Barceló of Més: Bauzá was "chained to the past" of the corruption of the PP. Fina Santiago, also Més: Rodrigo had confirmed the existence of a "mafia structure and generalised corruption within the PP". For PSOE, Rodrigo's evidence pointed to "systematic corruption" in the Matas government. The Caped Crusader retaliated by stating that his was a profile without corruption, an announcement that lacked a real sense of zap or pow, just as Bauzá the video did. What do you mean you haven't seen it? José Ramón wants to talk to you, so long as it is in Castellano or Catalan. No mention of any trilingual dialogue in giving "sufficient reasons for you to trust us again".
There were those who suggested that the talk-talk video showed signs of desperation. I prefer to think that it showed where linguistic preferences lay. By Friday, four days after having been posted, the Castellano version was beating the Catalan one by 370 views (3,385 versus 3,015). The combined total would, were they all to trust them again, fail to make much inroad into the lost support in the opinion polls. Anyway, if you wish to, you can talk to the president: Email, joseramon@gestionbauza.com; Whatsapp, 610 176 291; Twitter, @JRBauza; Facebook, José Ramón Bauzá.
Index for February 2015
AENA privatisation - 13 February 2015
Alcúdia anti-all inclusive party - 7 February 2015
All-inclusive control - 26 February 2015
Andratx, mayors and corruption - 11 February 2015
Balearics stand at Fitur and King Felipe - 5 February 2015
Canary Islands versus AENA privatisation - 24 February 2015
Eco-tax - 25 February 2015, 27 February 2015
Electoral pacts by Mallorca's left - 22 February 2015
Felanitx Theory: Columbus - 10 February 2015
Fitur tourism fair - 6 February 2015
Flu and hospital emergencies - 4 February 2015
Mallorca's hoteliers: unloved - 9 February 2015
Més and Balearics' own airline - 16 February 2015
Palma fiesta planning - 2 February 2015
Partido Popular corruption - 28 February 2015
Podemos power struggles - 3 February 2015
Podemos versus hoteliers - 18 February 2015
Police corruption in Palma - 1 February 2015
Pollensa: Day of destruction - 14 February 2015
Pope in Mallorca - 12 February 2015
PSOE and participation - 8 February 2015
Regional elections opinion poll - 23 February 2015
Sardine burial and Lent - 15 February 2015
Simplicity and Mallorcan winter marketing - 19 February 2015
Tourism ministry and a feeling for tourism - 20 February 2015
Town hall reduction - 17 February 2015
Virgen del Carmen fiesta and Saint Simon Stock - 21 February 2015
Javier Rodrigo de Santos, the newly saintly Rodrigo, released from the penance of his misuse of his Palma town hall credit card and rent boys, was twisting the knife. Beans were spilling from His Holiness Rod (dismissed as a "confessed and convicted offender" by another spokesperson, Miguel Ramis) and they amounted to a great deal more than a hill. A mountain was built, and Rodrigo was music to the ears of the judge and subsequently of the anti-corruption prosecutors. Construction businesses had benefited from having been given public works contracts in exchange for which they had been handing 3% commissions to the Jaume Matas-era PP.
It was these commissions that Mabel had no idea about. She could proudly proclaim that she was now part of a PP that was totally new and which had nothing to do with the old Matas model PP. In Bauzá's new model PP army, things are different. Oh, by the way, Mabel had been the minister for public works under Matas.
The blood freshly dripping from the jugular of the revenge of Rodrigo, the vultures swooped. Biel Barceló of Més: Bauzá was "chained to the past" of the corruption of the PP. Fina Santiago, also Més: Rodrigo had confirmed the existence of a "mafia structure and generalised corruption within the PP". For PSOE, Rodrigo's evidence pointed to "systematic corruption" in the Matas government. The Caped Crusader retaliated by stating that his was a profile without corruption, an announcement that lacked a real sense of zap or pow, just as Bauzá the video did. What do you mean you haven't seen it? José Ramón wants to talk to you, so long as it is in Castellano or Catalan. No mention of any trilingual dialogue in giving "sufficient reasons for you to trust us again".
There were those who suggested that the talk-talk video showed signs of desperation. I prefer to think that it showed where linguistic preferences lay. By Friday, four days after having been posted, the Castellano version was beating the Catalan one by 370 views (3,385 versus 3,015). The combined total would, were they all to trust them again, fail to make much inroad into the lost support in the opinion polls. Anyway, if you wish to, you can talk to the president: Email, joseramon@gestionbauza.com; Whatsapp, 610 176 291; Twitter, @JRBauza; Facebook, José Ramón Bauzá.
Index for February 2015
AENA privatisation - 13 February 2015
Alcúdia anti-all inclusive party - 7 February 2015
All-inclusive control - 26 February 2015
Andratx, mayors and corruption - 11 February 2015
Balearics stand at Fitur and King Felipe - 5 February 2015
Canary Islands versus AENA privatisation - 24 February 2015
Eco-tax - 25 February 2015, 27 February 2015
Electoral pacts by Mallorca's left - 22 February 2015
Felanitx Theory: Columbus - 10 February 2015
Fitur tourism fair - 6 February 2015
Flu and hospital emergencies - 4 February 2015
Mallorca's hoteliers: unloved - 9 February 2015
Més and Balearics' own airline - 16 February 2015
Palma fiesta planning - 2 February 2015
Partido Popular corruption - 28 February 2015
Podemos power struggles - 3 February 2015
Podemos versus hoteliers - 18 February 2015
Police corruption in Palma - 1 February 2015
Pollensa: Day of destruction - 14 February 2015
Pope in Mallorca - 12 February 2015
PSOE and participation - 8 February 2015
Regional elections opinion poll - 23 February 2015
Sardine burial and Lent - 15 February 2015
Simplicity and Mallorcan winter marketing - 19 February 2015
Tourism ministry and a feeling for tourism - 20 February 2015
Town hall reduction - 17 February 2015
Virgen del Carmen fiesta and Saint Simon Stock - 21 February 2015
Saturday, December 27, 2014
Felipe And The Sister Thing
It is Christmas Eve 2015. The Spanish nation turns its attention from stuffing the turkey with truffles and from popping the cava. It's the most anticipated television event of the year. What is he going to say? The he is King Felipe, though one might not totally dismiss the possibility that the he will by next year be the grandeur-delusional "pequeño Nicolás". Assuming that the little twerp hasn't ascended to the throne and that Felipe is delivering the annual Christmas message, he has to deal with the sister thing. The anticipation is therefore immense.
Felipe's message this Christmas Eve made no direct reference to Cristina, but it was a message notable for its absence of preliminary warm-up of the small-talking variety. It went straight in on corruption. The number one theme. It was a bold and strong message. "We need a profound regeneration of our collective life. And in so doing, the fight against corruption is an essential objective."
The message needed to be strong. Part of the job description that came with the succession was to be able to handle the sister thing. The old king, sadly discredited, could no longer credibly contend with the daughter thing. Awkward and embarrassing it must be for Felipe, but the nation comes first. He knows that, even if he didn't explicitly place nation above immediate family.
But what might the message next year contain? By then Cristina should know her fate, though there are surely several twists to follow the decision of Judge Castro to put her on trial. The judge, in delivering his "auto" - his judicial declaration - ruled out appeal and the application of the so-called Botín doctrine. He may yet find himself challenged on both counts. Botín, named after Emilio Botín, the former president of Santander Bank who died in September, refers to a case brought against Botín that was ruled inadmissible by the Supreme Court because the prosecution was led not by a state prosecutor but by a private, unaggrieved third party. As Pedro Horrach, the state anti-corruption prosecutor, has said that he believes Cristina does not have a case to answer, the prosecution lies essentially with a third party, namely the right-wing "union" Manos Limpias, an organisation which constantly seeks to fight corruption but which, as implied by alleged links to Francoism, is no friend of the royal family.
In a different case, however, the Supreme Court has ruled that an unaggrieved third party can be the sole accuser. The Atutxa doctrine refers to the case brought against the former president of the Basque Country, Juan María Atutxa, alleged to have had links to ETA. Despite this apparent contradiction, might the Cristina prosecution be bumped up to the Supreme Court? Castro would say no, and in delivering his "auto" he laid down a gauntlet. For there to now be a challenge citing Botín or for there to be any attempt to accuse Castro of having exceeded his powers (which was what happened to the celebrated investigating judge Baltasar Garzón) would be highly dangerous for Spain's reputation and indeed for Spain's society with its "serious social concern", as noted by Felipe.
Who knows what twists there might yet be and so what type of message Felipe has to deliver on Christmas Eve 2015. And who knows what Cristina might do next. Were she and Iñaki discussing divorce during the family Christmas in Switzerland? Was she giving serious consideration to renouncing her right of succession? (As sixth in line her chances of ascending to the crown would be as unlikely and as implausible as the current sixth in line to the British monarchy, Princess Beatrice of York.) Did she watch her brother's message? What did she think? It could not have been a happy Christmas in the Urdangarin household.
Felipe's message this Christmas Eve made no direct reference to Cristina, but it was a message notable for its absence of preliminary warm-up of the small-talking variety. It went straight in on corruption. The number one theme. It was a bold and strong message. "We need a profound regeneration of our collective life. And in so doing, the fight against corruption is an essential objective."
The message needed to be strong. Part of the job description that came with the succession was to be able to handle the sister thing. The old king, sadly discredited, could no longer credibly contend with the daughter thing. Awkward and embarrassing it must be for Felipe, but the nation comes first. He knows that, even if he didn't explicitly place nation above immediate family.
But what might the message next year contain? By then Cristina should know her fate, though there are surely several twists to follow the decision of Judge Castro to put her on trial. The judge, in delivering his "auto" - his judicial declaration - ruled out appeal and the application of the so-called Botín doctrine. He may yet find himself challenged on both counts. Botín, named after Emilio Botín, the former president of Santander Bank who died in September, refers to a case brought against Botín that was ruled inadmissible by the Supreme Court because the prosecution was led not by a state prosecutor but by a private, unaggrieved third party. As Pedro Horrach, the state anti-corruption prosecutor, has said that he believes Cristina does not have a case to answer, the prosecution lies essentially with a third party, namely the right-wing "union" Manos Limpias, an organisation which constantly seeks to fight corruption but which, as implied by alleged links to Francoism, is no friend of the royal family.
In a different case, however, the Supreme Court has ruled that an unaggrieved third party can be the sole accuser. The Atutxa doctrine refers to the case brought against the former president of the Basque Country, Juan María Atutxa, alleged to have had links to ETA. Despite this apparent contradiction, might the Cristina prosecution be bumped up to the Supreme Court? Castro would say no, and in delivering his "auto" he laid down a gauntlet. For there to now be a challenge citing Botín or for there to be any attempt to accuse Castro of having exceeded his powers (which was what happened to the celebrated investigating judge Baltasar Garzón) would be highly dangerous for Spain's reputation and indeed for Spain's society with its "serious social concern", as noted by Felipe.
Who knows what twists there might yet be and so what type of message Felipe has to deliver on Christmas Eve 2015. And who knows what Cristina might do next. Were she and Iñaki discussing divorce during the family Christmas in Switzerland? Was she giving serious consideration to renouncing her right of succession? (As sixth in line her chances of ascending to the crown would be as unlikely and as implausible as the current sixth in line to the British monarchy, Princess Beatrice of York.) Did she watch her brother's message? What did she think? It could not have been a happy Christmas in the Urdangarin household.
Friday, June 14, 2013
Through A Mallorcan Prism Darkly
Ingmar Bergman's "Through A Glass Darkly" dealt with the theme of searching for the truth and certainties, a theme and title that had been borrowed from "1 Corinthians Chapter 13". The film focused on four characters, each of them located on the same island. The title is ambiguous, just as the line from Corinthians is ambiguous and has been translated as mirror rather than glass. Further ambiguity arises because, if you look through a glass, you can see the other side, but you can't look through a mirror. The truth is staring back at you.
If you try to look through a prism, the truth of what you are seeing is refracted and distorted. It might exist somewhere, but the prism creates uncertainties. You can look through a glass clearly but you can only look through a prism darkly, as there is no clarity.
Prisms conceal truths, but the whole world is waiting to discover what these truths might be. We will never know. That is the nature of prisms, as light is broken up. It cannot be put back together.
To draw a comparison with the Prism spy programme and what has allegedly been happening in Mallorca is laughable in its scale and in its context, but if there are any regrettable truths, then it still ranks as scandalous.
Like Bergman's film, there is an island and there are four main characters. As in "Through A Glass Darkly" they mirror each other in their quests for truths and certainties. Two of them are anti-corruption prosecutors, one is a prosecutor of drugs traffickers and organised criminals, the fourth character is a judge: Judge José Castro, pursuer of Matas, pursuer of Urdangarin, the searcher after truth.
The National Police advised these four characters on several occasions that they were being investigated by private detectives. And to these four main characters can be added those in a sub-plot, two or perhaps three socialist parliamentary deputies in the Balearics. The allegation goes that in 2010 they were being spied on by private detectives, ones who had been engaged by the Partido Popular. In fact, it isn't an allegation. Miguel Ramis, spokesperson for the PP, having first denied that socialist (i.e. PSOE) deputies were being investigated, has now admitted that his party took private detectives on in order to check on whether public funds had been used by these deputies for a trip to Andalusia.
PSOE want to know who authorised the hiring of these detectives. Was it, therefore, the now president of the Balearics? PSOE have described this spying as "grave mafioso practice", which is something of an exaggeration, but they have a right to know who ordered the spying.
Investigating some members of the opposition might not sound like much of a potential scandal, but the main plot, that involving Judge Castro and the prosecutors, is a very much more serious matter. Ramis has flatly denied that the PP had any involvement in this. No one seems to know who was behind it, or if they do, they are keeping quiet.
If you go back to the first three months of 2010, a number of significant things occurred. February was the month of the long knives when barely a day passed without news emerging of corruption that had engulfed the former Unió Mallorquina party. At the start of March, José Ramón Bauzá was elected leader of the islands' PP and at the end of the month, former PP president Jaume Matas made his first appearance before Judge Castro on corruption allegations. Unrelated these may have been, but they were the background to a view being expressed from PP circles that the party and the UM were victims of some sort of politically inspired plot. PSOE were still in power then, but when they lost the 2011 election, the PP went fishing for any evidence of PSOE wrongdoing. Tit for tat. Or this was how it seemed.
Now, with the revelations about the private detectives, it would appear that the fishing expeditions had started earlier. They, as I say, are relatively minor, but the question is whether they were part of something much bigger. Which leads us to the four main characters, of whom Castro is the best known. Someone was looking for evidence with which to discredit him and the prosecutors. To potentially influence or distort, therefore, the search for the truth.
Through a glass transparently. Through a spyglass opaquely. Through a prism darkly. Which one is it? What do you see in the mirror, Miguel?
Any comments to andrew@thealcudiaguide.com please.
If you try to look through a prism, the truth of what you are seeing is refracted and distorted. It might exist somewhere, but the prism creates uncertainties. You can look through a glass clearly but you can only look through a prism darkly, as there is no clarity.
Prisms conceal truths, but the whole world is waiting to discover what these truths might be. We will never know. That is the nature of prisms, as light is broken up. It cannot be put back together.
To draw a comparison with the Prism spy programme and what has allegedly been happening in Mallorca is laughable in its scale and in its context, but if there are any regrettable truths, then it still ranks as scandalous.
Like Bergman's film, there is an island and there are four main characters. As in "Through A Glass Darkly" they mirror each other in their quests for truths and certainties. Two of them are anti-corruption prosecutors, one is a prosecutor of drugs traffickers and organised criminals, the fourth character is a judge: Judge José Castro, pursuer of Matas, pursuer of Urdangarin, the searcher after truth.
The National Police advised these four characters on several occasions that they were being investigated by private detectives. And to these four main characters can be added those in a sub-plot, two or perhaps three socialist parliamentary deputies in the Balearics. The allegation goes that in 2010 they were being spied on by private detectives, ones who had been engaged by the Partido Popular. In fact, it isn't an allegation. Miguel Ramis, spokesperson for the PP, having first denied that socialist (i.e. PSOE) deputies were being investigated, has now admitted that his party took private detectives on in order to check on whether public funds had been used by these deputies for a trip to Andalusia.
PSOE want to know who authorised the hiring of these detectives. Was it, therefore, the now president of the Balearics? PSOE have described this spying as "grave mafioso practice", which is something of an exaggeration, but they have a right to know who ordered the spying.
Investigating some members of the opposition might not sound like much of a potential scandal, but the main plot, that involving Judge Castro and the prosecutors, is a very much more serious matter. Ramis has flatly denied that the PP had any involvement in this. No one seems to know who was behind it, or if they do, they are keeping quiet.
If you go back to the first three months of 2010, a number of significant things occurred. February was the month of the long knives when barely a day passed without news emerging of corruption that had engulfed the former Unió Mallorquina party. At the start of March, José Ramón Bauzá was elected leader of the islands' PP and at the end of the month, former PP president Jaume Matas made his first appearance before Judge Castro on corruption allegations. Unrelated these may have been, but they were the background to a view being expressed from PP circles that the party and the UM were victims of some sort of politically inspired plot. PSOE were still in power then, but when they lost the 2011 election, the PP went fishing for any evidence of PSOE wrongdoing. Tit for tat. Or this was how it seemed.
Now, with the revelations about the private detectives, it would appear that the fishing expeditions had started earlier. They, as I say, are relatively minor, but the question is whether they were part of something much bigger. Which leads us to the four main characters, of whom Castro is the best known. Someone was looking for evidence with which to discredit him and the prosecutors. To potentially influence or distort, therefore, the search for the truth.
Through a glass transparently. Through a spyglass opaquely. Through a prism darkly. Which one is it? What do you see in the mirror, Miguel?
Any comments to andrew@thealcudiaguide.com please.
Monday, February 25, 2013
The Last Hurrah Of Judge Castro
Iñaki Urdangarin has absolved Princess Cristina and the royal household of having had anything to do with the Instituto Nóos, save for the royal household having given him advice to cease his activities with Nóos. It would have been surprising had he suggested otherwise, but regardless of his statements in front of Judge José Castro, the public is inclined to think differently. Opinion polling indicates that an overwhelming majority believe that the princess knew what her husband was allegedly up to with Nóos. Opinion varies, depending on political party sympathies, as to whether the King knew or might even have participated in Urdangarin's alleged activities.
What the public thinks shouldn't of course matter. Those who do matter are the actors in the Urdangarin drama. While we are now familiar with Urdangarin and his former business partner Diego Torres, there is one actor with whom we are less familiar. The judge.
Not cowed by any fear of appearing disrespectful, Judge Castro has demanded to see the visitors book at the Zarzuela royal palace. He wants to see if the Valencian politicians Francesc Camps and Rita Barberá attended a meeting with Urdangarin at the palace to discuss contracts related to the 2004 Valencia Summit on sport. Urdangarin told the judge on Saturday that no such meeting took place.
Castro has seemingly remained immune to any pressures to back off, and this would be in keeping with his reputation. Often described as being brave, he has also been described as reckless. The two descriptions go hand in hand because they refer to what he has investigated. Urdangarin, and the proximity to the royal family, is the latest in a list that goes back to when he first took up his post in 1991. They have included the "caso Calvià", the investigation into the buying of political advantage by the Partido Popular, and the "caso túnel de Sóller". Though the accused in this latter case were cleared, it was enough to bring about the downfall of one of the accused, the grandfather of Balearics politics, the first president of the islands, the PP's Gabriel Cañellas.
More recently, Castro has been investigating corruption cases involving the Unió Mallorquina party and of course another former PP president, Jaume Matas. There is something of a theme with the various cases over the years, and it is the PP. Matas has been so convinced of some sort of bias that he has said that Castro has a "personal and political phobia" towards him.
Castro can't be accused of bias against one political body. It is more a case that he has locked horns with a Mallorcan establishment, both political and societal. The PP has, since autonomy, been the dominant political presence. Both the PP and the now defunct UM have been synonymous with certain interests in local society, business ones in particular, in ways that other parties haven't been. And for Castro, the confrontation with establishment has moved to a different level, one embodied by Iñaki Urdangarin.
Investigating judges such as José Castro do face accusations of bias. The most famous of Spanish judges, Baltasar Garzón, fell foul of opponents in the PP as well of rivals within the judiciary. His allegiance to PSOE was no secret. Unlike Garzón though, Castro does not court publicity. It is why little is really known about him, other than a reputation for being fearless and for appearing grumpy. He has acquired a further reputation, one among some Mallorcans for having become a hero of the people. Matas and Urdangarin are, for these Mallorcans, joint holders of the status of public enemy number one, and Castro is their pursuer.
Attitudes towards those facing allegations do, however, get influenced by what prosecutors and the judge say and which becomes public knowledge. Castro's statement before Urdangarin's latest court appearance that Nóos was a premeditated act of criminality would only have served to reinforce negative attitudes towards Urdangarin. Such a statement might be perceived as evidence of partiality, but then an investigating judge is not like a judge in an English court.
It has been suggested that the Urdangarin affair might be spun out so long that Judge Castro retires. He is now 66, but it is understood that he wants to carry on until he is 70. Even by the slow standards of Spanish justice, four years are a long time. Too long for Castro? The "caso Nóos" is one of the last hurrahs for this scourge of the establishment. Will it prove to be the defining investigation by which José Castro will be remembered? Cañellas was let off but he had to resign. Castro's Nóos noose has far bigger game to hunt.
Any comments to andrew@thealcudiaguide.com please.
What the public thinks shouldn't of course matter. Those who do matter are the actors in the Urdangarin drama. While we are now familiar with Urdangarin and his former business partner Diego Torres, there is one actor with whom we are less familiar. The judge.
Not cowed by any fear of appearing disrespectful, Judge Castro has demanded to see the visitors book at the Zarzuela royal palace. He wants to see if the Valencian politicians Francesc Camps and Rita Barberá attended a meeting with Urdangarin at the palace to discuss contracts related to the 2004 Valencia Summit on sport. Urdangarin told the judge on Saturday that no such meeting took place.
Castro has seemingly remained immune to any pressures to back off, and this would be in keeping with his reputation. Often described as being brave, he has also been described as reckless. The two descriptions go hand in hand because they refer to what he has investigated. Urdangarin, and the proximity to the royal family, is the latest in a list that goes back to when he first took up his post in 1991. They have included the "caso Calvià", the investigation into the buying of political advantage by the Partido Popular, and the "caso túnel de Sóller". Though the accused in this latter case were cleared, it was enough to bring about the downfall of one of the accused, the grandfather of Balearics politics, the first president of the islands, the PP's Gabriel Cañellas.
More recently, Castro has been investigating corruption cases involving the Unió Mallorquina party and of course another former PP president, Jaume Matas. There is something of a theme with the various cases over the years, and it is the PP. Matas has been so convinced of some sort of bias that he has said that Castro has a "personal and political phobia" towards him.
Castro can't be accused of bias against one political body. It is more a case that he has locked horns with a Mallorcan establishment, both political and societal. The PP has, since autonomy, been the dominant political presence. Both the PP and the now defunct UM have been synonymous with certain interests in local society, business ones in particular, in ways that other parties haven't been. And for Castro, the confrontation with establishment has moved to a different level, one embodied by Iñaki Urdangarin.
Investigating judges such as José Castro do face accusations of bias. The most famous of Spanish judges, Baltasar Garzón, fell foul of opponents in the PP as well of rivals within the judiciary. His allegiance to PSOE was no secret. Unlike Garzón though, Castro does not court publicity. It is why little is really known about him, other than a reputation for being fearless and for appearing grumpy. He has acquired a further reputation, one among some Mallorcans for having become a hero of the people. Matas and Urdangarin are, for these Mallorcans, joint holders of the status of public enemy number one, and Castro is their pursuer.
Attitudes towards those facing allegations do, however, get influenced by what prosecutors and the judge say and which becomes public knowledge. Castro's statement before Urdangarin's latest court appearance that Nóos was a premeditated act of criminality would only have served to reinforce negative attitudes towards Urdangarin. Such a statement might be perceived as evidence of partiality, but then an investigating judge is not like a judge in an English court.
It has been suggested that the Urdangarin affair might be spun out so long that Judge Castro retires. He is now 66, but it is understood that he wants to carry on until he is 70. Even by the slow standards of Spanish justice, four years are a long time. Too long for Castro? The "caso Nóos" is one of the last hurrahs for this scourge of the establishment. Will it prove to be the defining investigation by which José Castro will be remembered? Cañellas was let off but he had to resign. Castro's Nóos noose has far bigger game to hunt.
Any comments to andrew@thealcudiaguide.com please.
Tuesday, February 19, 2013
The Urdangarin Case
This coming Saturday, the streets around the courts in Palma will, as they were this time last year, once more be thronged with members of the world's media. The son-in-law of King Juan Carlos, Iñaki Urdangarin, aka (and still for the time being) the Duke of Palma, will be the star turn. He has been required, for a second time, to declare in front of the investigating judge, José Castro, on matters related to alleged diversion of public funds that were, again allegedly, channelled to offshore tax havens via an organisation that the Duke had established, the Instituto Nóos.
Majorca has not been without its fair share of court-appearance spectaculars in recent years. Mostly, these have involved politicians facing corruption and fraud allegations. The Urdangarin case is quite different, as the cast list of those either directly or indirectly implicated makes it different. In addition to Urdangarin, this cast includes his former business partner, Diego Torres, Urdangarin's wife, Princess Cristina, and even the King himself. This is not, therefore, any old corruption investigation, it is one that threatens to go to the very heart of arguably the most important institution in Spain, one that holds a potentially increasingly volatile nation together, the monarchy.
The Urdangarin case arose from a corruption investigation into a politician, the former president of the Balearics, Jaume Matas. Though it first drew Judge Castro's attention in June 2010, public awareness of the case only truly emerged in November 2011 and focused initially on invoices raised by the Instituto Nóos that were sent to the Fundación Illesport, a body linked to the tourism ministry in the Balearics. Nóos was an organisation that Urdangarin and Torres had created with the principal aim of it being a vehicle for advising on and organising sports-related events. The invoices referred to the staging of forums and were raised between 2005 and 2007. They amounted to 2.3 million euros.
What alerted prosecutors and Judge Castro were the amounts and the fact that there had apparently been no open tender for the work. They also related to the period when Matas was president; the final invoice was raised just before the elections in 2007 that Matas lost.
Since these invoices became public knowledge, the case has moved on significantly. Other events that Nóos was involved with have been brought into the investigation, such as the Valencia Summit in 2004, an annual sporting debate. For organising this, Nóos was originally anticipating receiving three million euros. There has also been the revelation that the King ordered Urdangarin to give up his position with Nóos in 2006, but another organisation, the Fundación Deporte, Cultura e Integración, was subsequently formed by Urdangarin and Torres. This foundation, so prosecutors have alleged, was another means of siphoning funds to tax havens such as Belize.
When Urdangarin declared last February, he maintained that his former partner, Diego Torres, had robbed him. He also stated that his wife, Princess Cristina, had nothing do with either Nóos or a real-estate company, Aizoon. She was a director but was not engaged in its running as such. Aizoon has also been investigated for possible diversion of funds.
At the end of Urdangarin's declaration last year, the prosecutors ruled out indicting the Princess, believing that she knew nothing of her husband's affairs. The prosecutors are still saying there are not grounds for her to be indicted, but the possibility remains that she might be. If so, the affair would move ever closer to the King.
Prior to the latest declaration by Urdangarin and also that of Diego Torres, which is currently being heard, Judge Castro made what might seem an extraordinary statement. Referring to the 500 pages of evidence that have been amassed, the judge said that Nóos had been an organised plot of premeditated criminality. Against this background and of the various revelations that have emerged since last February, Urdangarin is now due back in court.
Urdangarin's re-appearance before Judge Castro was never going to be easy, but it has become even harder as a consequence of what Torres has been saying and revealing in court. As part of his defence, he has released hundreds of emails which suggest that the royal household was more aware of his and Urdangarin's activities than had been previously understood.
The royal family's personal attorney, José Manuel Romero, is one of those implicated in these emails. He has denied involvement in or offering legal advice to the Fundación Deporte, Cultura e Integración, the foundation that succeeded Nóos. Another attorney, that of both Princess Cristina and Princess Elena, has already been indicted over work that was allegedly undertaken for Nóos.
Other information that has emerged from the Torres emails is the fact that the King knew of an association between Urdangarin and Corinna Sayn-Wittgenstein, a German socialite and businesswoman and personal friend of the King's. Urdangarin, according to the emails, was to become associated with another foundation with sporting interests, Laureus, and Corinna had assisted in his gaining a position with a remuneration of 250,000 euros. More than this, the Torres emails point to the fact that Corinna was involved in the Valencia Summit in 2004.
Torres has repeatedly said that he has not been able to understand why his wife, Ana Maria Tejeiro, has been implicated in the Nóos affair and Princess Cristina has not been. His strategy of releasing email information to Judge Castro is designed, at least in part, to show that the Princess was more knowledgeable of her husband's affairs than Urdangarin has suggested and that the royal household was aware of this. He has also alleged that he has been offered money in order that he should remain silent. But Torres is not going to be silent. There is more to come, and it could be even more damaging for the Princess and for the royal family. And for Urdangarin. His court appearance is only a few days away, but what more might be revealed in the meantime?
Any comments to andrew@thealcudiaguide.com please.
Majorca has not been without its fair share of court-appearance spectaculars in recent years. Mostly, these have involved politicians facing corruption and fraud allegations. The Urdangarin case is quite different, as the cast list of those either directly or indirectly implicated makes it different. In addition to Urdangarin, this cast includes his former business partner, Diego Torres, Urdangarin's wife, Princess Cristina, and even the King himself. This is not, therefore, any old corruption investigation, it is one that threatens to go to the very heart of arguably the most important institution in Spain, one that holds a potentially increasingly volatile nation together, the monarchy.
The Urdangarin case arose from a corruption investigation into a politician, the former president of the Balearics, Jaume Matas. Though it first drew Judge Castro's attention in June 2010, public awareness of the case only truly emerged in November 2011 and focused initially on invoices raised by the Instituto Nóos that were sent to the Fundación Illesport, a body linked to the tourism ministry in the Balearics. Nóos was an organisation that Urdangarin and Torres had created with the principal aim of it being a vehicle for advising on and organising sports-related events. The invoices referred to the staging of forums and were raised between 2005 and 2007. They amounted to 2.3 million euros.
What alerted prosecutors and Judge Castro were the amounts and the fact that there had apparently been no open tender for the work. They also related to the period when Matas was president; the final invoice was raised just before the elections in 2007 that Matas lost.
Since these invoices became public knowledge, the case has moved on significantly. Other events that Nóos was involved with have been brought into the investigation, such as the Valencia Summit in 2004, an annual sporting debate. For organising this, Nóos was originally anticipating receiving three million euros. There has also been the revelation that the King ordered Urdangarin to give up his position with Nóos in 2006, but another organisation, the Fundación Deporte, Cultura e Integración, was subsequently formed by Urdangarin and Torres. This foundation, so prosecutors have alleged, was another means of siphoning funds to tax havens such as Belize.
When Urdangarin declared last February, he maintained that his former partner, Diego Torres, had robbed him. He also stated that his wife, Princess Cristina, had nothing do with either Nóos or a real-estate company, Aizoon. She was a director but was not engaged in its running as such. Aizoon has also been investigated for possible diversion of funds.
At the end of Urdangarin's declaration last year, the prosecutors ruled out indicting the Princess, believing that she knew nothing of her husband's affairs. The prosecutors are still saying there are not grounds for her to be indicted, but the possibility remains that she might be. If so, the affair would move ever closer to the King.
Prior to the latest declaration by Urdangarin and also that of Diego Torres, which is currently being heard, Judge Castro made what might seem an extraordinary statement. Referring to the 500 pages of evidence that have been amassed, the judge said that Nóos had been an organised plot of premeditated criminality. Against this background and of the various revelations that have emerged since last February, Urdangarin is now due back in court.
Urdangarin's re-appearance before Judge Castro was never going to be easy, but it has become even harder as a consequence of what Torres has been saying and revealing in court. As part of his defence, he has released hundreds of emails which suggest that the royal household was more aware of his and Urdangarin's activities than had been previously understood.
The royal family's personal attorney, José Manuel Romero, is one of those implicated in these emails. He has denied involvement in or offering legal advice to the Fundación Deporte, Cultura e Integración, the foundation that succeeded Nóos. Another attorney, that of both Princess Cristina and Princess Elena, has already been indicted over work that was allegedly undertaken for Nóos.
Other information that has emerged from the Torres emails is the fact that the King knew of an association between Urdangarin and Corinna Sayn-Wittgenstein, a German socialite and businesswoman and personal friend of the King's. Urdangarin, according to the emails, was to become associated with another foundation with sporting interests, Laureus, and Corinna had assisted in his gaining a position with a remuneration of 250,000 euros. More than this, the Torres emails point to the fact that Corinna was involved in the Valencia Summit in 2004.
Torres has repeatedly said that he has not been able to understand why his wife, Ana Maria Tejeiro, has been implicated in the Nóos affair and Princess Cristina has not been. His strategy of releasing email information to Judge Castro is designed, at least in part, to show that the Princess was more knowledgeable of her husband's affairs than Urdangarin has suggested and that the royal household was aware of this. He has also alleged that he has been offered money in order that he should remain silent. But Torres is not going to be silent. There is more to come, and it could be even more damaging for the Princess and for the royal family. And for Urdangarin. His court appearance is only a few days away, but what more might be revealed in the meantime?
Any comments to andrew@thealcudiaguide.com please.
Thursday, January 31, 2013
MALLORCA TODAY - Nóos was a premeditated criminal act
The investigating judge in the case of Iñaki Urdangarin and the Instituto Nóos has made a statement in which he makes clear that he believes the activities of the institute were premeditated with the intent to access public funds. Judge Castro, in an "auto" (essentially the case for the prosecution) of over 500 pages, describes Nóos as an organised plot of willful criminal activity. The judge has imposed a civil bail amounting to over eight million euros on Urdangarin and his ex-business partner Diego Torres, meaning that he is seeking assets from the two amounting to the bail rather than this being a bail that must be paid to avoid entering custody.
See more: Diario de Mallorca
See more: Diario de Mallorca
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
