The Contentious-Administrative Court Number 5 of Las Palmas has rejected a request from an alleged "environmentalist association" of Gran Canaria, Jacón, which demanded the "urgent closure" of five wineries in La Geria, located in the municipality of San Bartolomé. A similar request was made two years ago by a businessman linked to the owner of Stratvs, Juan Francisco Rosa, who unsuccessfully sought to order the closure of all the wineries in La Geria.
In the case of Jacón, it was intended that the Court agree to this precautionary measure without even hearing the City Council, which is what the Court has rejected. The association's brief was presented by the lawyer Juan David García Pazos, who through different associations has tried to appear as an accusation in the main corruption cases opened on the island, and in particular in the Stratvs case and in the Unión case. In the latter case, García Pazos came to represent one of the defendants, Luis Lleó, acting as his lawyer in a hearing.
Initially, García Pazos entered the Stratvs case through an environmental association from Fuerteventura, Agonane, which appeared as a popular accusation. However, the association itself ended up withdrawing from the procedure, feeling "deceived and used" by this lawyer, who was the one who "convinced" them to intervene in this case. From the association, as they declared then to La Voz, they considered that the only thing García Pazos did was "contribute noise", thereby hindering the procedure.
Just after the withdrawal of Agonane, in mid-2015, a new association from Gran Canaria then asked to enter the Stratvs case. It was then that the name of Jacón appeared for the first time, which at that time was not even constituted as an association. At that time, when asked by this media, García Pazos denied even knowing that group. Now, however, he acts as a lawyer in the courts on behalf of Jacón.
Attempt of "procedural fraud" in Stratvs
This association tried to appear in Stratvs, but its claim was rejected by the investigating judge, Silvia Muñoz, who considered that this attempt constituted a "procedural fraud". Jacón even signed a power of attorney to try to challenge the magistrate in this procedure. And García Pazos has done the same in the Unión case, in this case through the Association of Jurists Jiménez de Asúa, which was established on the same dates as Jacón.
In the case of this association of jurists, it was also not constituted when it began to try to appear in all the parts of Unión, six years after the case publicly broke out and when the investigation was already closed. Finally, the Court allowed its appearance only in one of the parts, which was the only one that was at that time in the investigation phase. And the first thing he did was challenge the investigating judge, who is also Silvia Muñoz.
The writing requesting the challenge of the magistrate was also signed by García Pazos, who has acted as a lawyer for one of the main defendants in Unión, Luis Lleó. In addition, this same lawyer has represented the journalist Francisco Chavanel, who has at least two lawsuits for his campaign of attacks on different judges and prosecutors who have investigated the corruption cases opened on the island. The association of jurists represented by García Pazos also filed a complaint against the first investigating judge of the Unión case.
A businessman close to Rosa already requested the closure of wineries
In the case of Jacón, in addition to trying to enter the Stratvs case, it has also taken actions before the institutions and in the contentious-administrative channel, which is precisely what has just given rise to the resolution of Court Number 5 of Las Palmas. Specifically, the association had asked the City Council of San Bartolomé to close five wineries (El Grifo, Bermejo, La Florida, Mozaga and Barreto), alleging among other things that "they produce discharges in the subsoil and that they do not have enabling titles for it".
This argument is similar to the one already raised by the businessman Antonio Curbelo Robayna, who has been a partner and administrator of different companies of the owner of Stratvs, Juan Francisco Rosa. In addition to requesting the closure of all the wineries in La Geria, Curbelo also filed a complaint with the Prosecutor's Office against them, shortly after the Justice ordered the precautionary closure of Stratvs, immersed in a criminal case for a dozen crimes.
After the City Council of San Bartolomé did not attend to its closure request, Jacón decided to go to court, filing a contentious-administrative appeal against that municipal decision. In addition to asking that the resolution of the Consistory be annulled, which in reality occurred due to administrative silence, the association claimed that the Court adopt precautionary measures "urgently" to close those wineries.
In the order in which he responds to that request, Judge Ángel Teba explains that the request, as formulated, would mean not even giving the administration a hearing to present its arguments. Thus, in an order dated April 29, the magistrate concludes that "there is no place" to process that request from Jacón with "urgent" character. Therefore, what the judge agrees is to open a separate piece of precautionary measures, to decide on the merits of the matter after assessing the arguments presented by the City Council of San Bartolomé. In addition to requesting the closure of the wineries of San Bartolomé, Jacón has done the same with those that depend on other Consistories, given that La Geria covers several different municipalities.
