The Consortium and Inalsa recuse Ricardo Fiestras, new investigating judge of the "San Ginés case"

The representative of the Lanzarote Water Consortium and the public company Inalsa has filed a motion to recuse the new instructor of the "San Ginés case", Magistrate Ricardo Fiestras, head of the Court of Instruction number 4 of Arrecife.

This judicial procedure investigates the payments made by the Consortium and the public company Insular de Aguas de Lanzarote, Inalsa, to the lawyer Ignacio Calatayud during the period of Pedro San Ginés (CC) as president of the Cabildo.

The "San Ginés case" was initiated by the Court of Instruction number 2 of Arrecife, whose head Jerónimo Alonso led the investigation until a few weeks ago, when the Las Palmas Court, at the request of the lawyer Calatayud, ruled that the competent court to investigate the process is number 4.

According to a motion to recuse that EFE has had access to, this is raised because the Consortium and Inalsa understand that the new instructor has "direct or indirect interest in the lawsuit" and for "having participated in the instruction of the criminal case or having resolved the lawsuit or case in a previous instance".

In this regard, the legal direction of the Consortium and the company Inalsa alleges that Magistrate Fiestras, against the instructions of the Provincial Court, already issued in his day an order for provisional dismissal and filing of the preliminary proceedings 579/2016, in which the hiring of Ignacio Calatayud by San Ginés was investigated in a procedure of the Insular Water Council.

The appellants claim that the instructor adopted the decision despite the fact that the Court ordered that he initiate abbreviated proceedings, as a prior step to the opening of the oral trial.

As a second reason for recusal, the writing points out that with the designation of Fiestras, "the right to a criminal procedure with all guarantees and to an impartial judge" is not guaranteed, since the lawyer Calatayud advises a Lanzarote business group to which a sister of the magistrate is linked.

During the instruction of the "San Ginés case", the home of the former president of the Cabildo and several properties of the lawyer were searched, both investigated in this case.