World
Rodríguez Zapatero asked the Audiencia Nacional to annul the inquiry into his dealings in Bolivia
The former prime minister appealed Judge José Luis Calama’s decision in the Plus Ultra case. His defense argues that the investigation cannot be expanded to all of his professional activity without prior indications of a crime.
José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero filed an appeal before the Criminal Chamber of the Audiencia Nacional seeking to nullify the part of the Plus Ultra case investigation linked to his business dealings in Bolivia.
According to El Mundo, the former president’s defense challenged Judge José Luis Calama’s decision and argued that both the magistrate and the Udef moved into economic activities for which, in its view, there were no indications when he was charged. The appeal, signed by lawyer Víctor Moreno Catena, also objects to the analysis of material seized in the search of his office becoming a general inquiry into his professional and personal life.
According to ABC España, the filing was submitted after Calama himself refused to remove from the case a report by the Economic and Fiscal Crime Unit of the National Police. The defense insists that the investigation must be limited to the facts for which it was opened and not become a comprehensive review of all the information obtained.
El Mundo reported that the police report under dispute identified three transfers totaling 200,000 euros that, according to the Udef, would not correspond to services actually provided to the company Focus Social Research. Still according to that outlet, investigators link those payments to Rodríguez Zapatero’s dealings with senior authorities in Bolivia on behalf of Grupo Gloria, a Peruvian-origin business conglomerate with disputes with that country’s public administration.
In that same report, El Mundo cited, the National Police maintained that there were indications of a criminal organization led by Rodríguez Zapatero, allegedly dedicated to exerting unlawful influence for the benefit of different clients. Review of the appeal will be in the hands of the Third Criminal Section.
Sources
About this note. Written by El Notero with the assistance of artificial intelligence, based on what was published by the cited outlet. El Notero did not conduct its own reporting on this event.
