The Supreme Court holds a hearing to resolve appeals against the sentence that condemned Judge Salvador Alba

The lawyer of the Government Delegate against Gender Violence, Victoria Rosell, has asked the Supreme Court to increase the prison sentence imposed on the magistrate of the Las Palmas Court, Salvador Alba, from six and a half years to ten for "trying to destroy her" by conspiring to harm her when she was a deputy of Podemos.

The Supreme Court held this Thursday the hearing of the appeals filed against the ruling of the Superior Court of Justice (TSJ) of the Canary Islands that sentenced in 2019 to six and a half years in prison and 18 of disqualification to Magistrate Salvador Alba for crimes of prevarication in competition with bribery and another of falsehood in a public document.

Victoria Rosell attended the hearing in the audience, whose lawyer, Antonio Marrero, informed the Chamber of his appeal against the ruling and asked that Salvador Alba be sentenced to ten years in prison and eleven of disqualification for a continued crime of falsification, prevarication in competition with bribery and disclosure of secrets.

The lawyer of the prosecution exercised by Podemos, Sandra Rodríguez, has adhered to the appeal of Victoria Rosell and the prosecutor has requested that the Supreme Court confirm the ruling of the TSJ, while the lawyer of the defense, Nicolás González Cuéllar, has requested the acquittal of Salvador Alba, considering that his right to the presumption of innocence was violated.

In its ruling, the TSJ of the Canary Islands declared proven that Salvador Alba manipulated an investigation of crimes against Social Security opened against businessman Miguel Ángel Ramírez to harm the judge who had directed it before him, Victoria Rosell, when she was already a deputy in Congress as an independent in the Podemos group.

The ruling adds that, being the instructor of the procedure, Salvador Alba met privately with the aforementioned businessman to express his intention to obtain evidence that would demonstrate that Rosell had intervened in the case despite having indirect economic interests in the matter, alleged commercial relations between her partner and the companies of Miguel Ángel Ramírez.

Lawyer Antonio Marrero has said that Salvador Alba's intention was to "professionally destroy" Victoria Rosell and that for this he summoned Ramírez alone in an office, "away from prying eyes" so that he would try to gather evidence that would commercially link his client's partner with the businessman in exchange for procuring the filing of the procedure against him.

He added that Alba also incurred in falsehood in his report to the Supreme Court so that a complaint filed against Victoria Rosell by the then Minister of the PP, José Manuel Soria, would be admitted, her political rival in the electoral district of Las Palmas.

For the representation of Rosell, the compensation of 60,000 euros to Rosell imposed on Alba is appropriate "for the suffering" that he caused her.

The lawyer of Podemos, Sandra Rodríguez, has stressed that Alba acted "alone even if it was for his personal satisfaction of ending Rosell's career and to look good with José Manuel Soria to help him in his complaint against her".

The prosecutor has pointed out that it is understandable that businessman Miguel Ángel Ramírez recorded the conversation of the private meeting to which Alba summoned him to request documentation since it was not a judicial appearance and added: "The content of the recording is embarrassing".

"We do not know the reasons but the convicted person prevaricated when using the procedure to harm" Victoria Rosell, the prosecutor added.

The defense of Alba has estimated that there is not enough valid evidence to convict him and that there was manipulation in recordings contributed to the cause, which the prosecutor has refuted, pointing out that the court based its decision on expert reports from the Civil Guard. EFE