The TSJA archives the case against Noel López, number 2 of the PSOE, for the kidnapping of Maracena
The Superior Court of Justice of Andalusia (TSJA) has closed the case against Noel López, Secretary of Organization of the Andalusian PSOE, in the case of the kidnapping of the councilor of Maracena, Vanessa Romero. The Andalusian high court, in an order dated this Thursday, considers that the indications raised by the investigating judge are “insufficient” to maintain the investigation. The TSJA has returned the case to the Investigating Court Number 5 of Granada, since it considers that it has not “exhausted” the practice of “essential” procedures to elucidate the role of López in the alleged illegal detention.
“It is not enough any suspicion or conjecture. The possibilities, more or less close, or the unverified allusions are not enough, “says the order of magistrate Antonio Moreno Marín, who acts as rapporteur for the brief of the Civil and Criminal Chamber of the TSJA. The judge considers the referral of the case to the Andalusian high court “premature” and misses the fact that the investigator has elaborated on the investigation before sending the case to the TSJA due to the status of López, who is a deputy in the regional Chamber and second secretary of the Bureau of Parliament.
The TSJA order admits that the alleged involvement of López, the still mayoress of Maracena, Berta Linares, and the Councilor for Urbanism, Antonio García Leyva, part of the statement of the author of the kidnapping and the locations of the mobile phones of the three politicians. However, the TSJA judge acknowledges that the statements of the detainee, in pretrial detention, “could not be verified” by the non-registered or by “other investigative measures” proposed by the investigator, the Prosecutor's Office or the parties.
“Essential investigative procedures have not been carried out”, the magistrate abounds, alluding to the statement of those indicated by the instructor in the Granada court. “Confronting their statements, and the accusations that derive from them, with the non-registered persons to whom it refers, are considered essential and indispensable steps,” insists the letter, which alludes to the pronouncement of the Public Prosecutor's Office, which also lacks other errands.
The Andalusian high court opens the door for the investigator to re-refer the case once the instructor's investigations progress and it is proven that López's “individualization of personal conduct” may be “constituting a crime, with well-founded evidence that corroborate their credible participation or involvement” in the kidnapping of Vanessa Romero.
The pronouncement of the TSJA is made public a few hours after an order from the investigating judge, José Sola, was known, in which he excluded the defenses of López, Linares and García Leyva from the investigation of the kidnapping. This procedural movement responded to the fact that it was the high court that assumed the case at the request of the instructor. But the order of the TSJA, which also bears the signature of the president of the high court, Lorenzo del Río, returns the case to the initial moment.