The magistrate of the Central Court of Instruction number four of Madrid José Luis Calama has released on provisional release with precautionary measures the retired Civil Guard general Francisco Espinosa Navas, investigated in the branch of the Mediator case that the European Prosecutor's Office recently assumed.
Calama, who acts as a guarantee judge in this part of the investigation, has accepted the general's request, which the Public Prosecutor's Office had opposed, considering that the risk of flight is very low and that at this time there is no risk of alteration or destruction of evidence.
However, the magistrate has imposed as precautionary measures the obligation to appear in court every fifteen days, the withdrawal of his passport and the express prohibition to leave the country, and warns him that his non-compliance may lead to the adoption of more serious measures.
General Espinosa was the only one of the defendants in the Mediator case who was remanded in custody after being arrested on February 14 for crimes such as bribery, influence peddling and membership of a criminal group, accused of being one of the ringleaders of a plot that allegedly charged bribes to businessmen to mediate in their favor in contracts or public aid or to avoid inspections and sanctions.
This case is being investigated in a court in Santa Cruz de Tenerife, although the European Prosecutor's Office decided to take over the part that affects the contracts of the GAR-SI Sahel, a collaboration program with the security forces of several African countries that was administered by a Spanish public foundation, but was financed with EU funds. General Espinosa was in charge of this program.
Judge Calama, who was appointed as the judge of guarantees for that part of the investigation and who has the power to resolve the personal situation of the investigated, recalls that, although the Prosecutor's Office also opposed the general's previous request for release, he admitted that his desire was for that "exceptional situation" of pre-trial detention to end soon.
The magistrate points out in his order that, "beyond the criminal acts" that are imputed to Espinosa "based on very solid indications", the risk that he will flee the country is "very low" due to the "strong roots" he has in Spain, both personal and economic, so that "there is no element or indication that alerts about his possible flight abroad".
Nor does he see any risk that the investigated will destroy evidence as he has been in prison for "enough time for the investigators to have been able to adequately secure those alluded sources of evidence".
