The Canary Islands Coalition Group in the Cabildo of Lanzarote and La Graciosa has approved its own initiative to authorize its president, Oswaldo Betancort (CC), to take "the appropriate legal actions" to "defend the interests" of the institution in the pre-trial investigation opened in the Supreme Court for the complaint filed against former socialist president Dolores Corujo.
As La Voz has been able to ascertain, the first institution is considering, through Oswaldo Betancort and the legal services of the Cabildo, filing a complaint or a lawsuit before the Supreme Court against the also congresswoman and current socialist councilor in the institution for the fees collected by councilor Juan Manuel Sosa during his term.
The Prosecutor's Office of the High Court is investigating a complaint filed by the insular director of Presidency of the Cabildo of Lanzarote David Monte, politically linked to Coalición Canaria, against the former socialist president.
A decision with the abstention of the PP and the Mixed Group
In the vote of the Governing Council, held on Tuesday morning, five councilors from Coalición Canaria (Oswaldo Betancort, Samuel Martín, Aroa Revelo, Ascención Toledo and Miguel Ángel Rodríguez) voted in favor of delegating to the insular president the pertinent judicial decisions regarding this pre-trial investigation.
Meanwhile, the two representatives of the Popular Party (Ángel Vázquez and María Jesús Tovar) decided to abstain, as did the councilor from the Mixed Group, Armando Santana.
Sources from the Public Prosecutor's Office explained last June to La Voz that the investigation is still in a "pre-trial" phase and that it is premature to speak of "imputation" or "investigation." For now, the proceedings opened in the Prosecutor's Office seek to clarify whether or not there are indications of a crime, and the former insular president will have to testify in her capacity as a suspect and not as an investigated person (imputed), which will be decided by a court.
Thus, the Cabildo of Lanzarote cannot currently become a party to the pre-trial investigation against the socialist deputy because there is no open judicial case, but rather it is still in a preliminary stage of judicial investigation. However, it can file a lawsuit before the High Court against the socialist councilor.
Protected as a congresswoman
As a deputy in Congress, Corujo has privileged status and this complaint must be resolved in the Supreme Court Prosecutor's Office and not in that of Arrecife, where it was initially filed.
In this context, the Governing Council has approved the elevation of Monte's report that motivated the pre-trial investigation against Dolores Corujo and has taken note of a decree from the Provincial Prosecutor's Office of Las Palmas.