The phrase pronounced by the journalist María Antonia Iglesias, which seems to have become a reference throughout the country, could well be applied to what is happening in Lanzarote in recent days. And it is that before ...
The phrase pronounced by the journalist María Antonia Iglesias, which seems to have become a reference throughout the country, could well be applied to what is happening in Lanzarote in recent days. And it is that before certain statements and testimonies, it seems that one can only ask: "But is she a whore or is she not a whore?"
After 25 new arrests were made on the island, some of those affected and their environment have launched a campaign to attack the police and judicial operation. That if the cells were in poor condition, that if the arrests were excessive, that if the UCO agents were "armed to the teeth"? In short, a tide of noise and confusion to avoid talking about what is truly important: the alleged corruption plots that have been put on the table with the "Unión" case.
Curiously, those who ask for respect for the secrecy of the proceedings and the presumption of innocence, even demanding that Justice be allowed to work, are the first to make parallel judgments, although with a verdict of innocence for the accused, and of guilt for the Court that instructs the case, the Prosecutor's Office and the Central Operative Unit of the Civil Guard. But how can they assess whether a measure is disproportionate or not, if the investigation of the case remains open and there is still more that is unknown than what is known?
To even suggest that the "Unión" case, which has so far about 70 defendants, is a delusion of a judge, two prosecutors and an elite unit of the Civil Guard, is even an insult to intelligence. And that does not mean that all those involved are guilty, nor does it mean that their connection with the case has the same gravity. But as in any judicial or police process, the measures deemed necessary within the law must be carried out to clarify the facts that are being investigated. And when there is really police abuse, there are mechanisms to report it, as in fact there are already precedents in Lanzarote, in which even the Prosecutor's Office has acted ex officio, leading the accusation against agents of the National Police.
However, no matter how much certain sectors have now learned what an arrest entails, despite the fact that they have never worried about the arrests that have been made to date and that did not affect politicians or prominent businessmen, the truth is that we are not talking about that here. In fact, none of those affected dare to question the treatment they have received from the UCO agents. The criticisms are not even frontal, but in most cases, even anecdotal.
From the PIL they speak of "despicable media circus", when what is really despicable for society is that its public representatives have been able to take millions of euros from public coffers in recent years, while the island was being left completely behind in infrastructure and investments, and while institutions and public companies were being ruined. And all this, added to the fact that currently Lanzarote, far from having taken advantage of the years of prosperity to face the crisis, is now facing dramatic unemployment figures, which reach more than 31 percent of the active population.
But instead of responding to that, some prefer to talk about the fact that the agents went to arrest poor defenseless citizens ¡with guns!, as if it were out of the ordinary for a policeman or a civil guard to carry his regulation weapon while on duty. They even assure that the agents or the judge would have been enough to call them to testify and that they would have come so calmly without the need for this "show", as if we were talking about sisters of charity and not alleged criminals, who in some cases have made a great effort to hide more than compromising documentation.
The total lifting of the secrecy of the proceedings, and of course the trial, will allow to clarify and assess everything that happened, and it is likely that not all 70 defendants are behind the facts that are being investigated, or at least not the most serious ones. But when what is being tracked is an alleged organized network to commit crimes, entrenched for years in Lanzarote, what is disproportionate is not the methods that are used within the legal framework, but the magnitude of the facts we are talking about. And even more so when a party that claims that it is not a "mafia organization", and that has several of its members charged with illicit association, continues to defend the alleged leader of that plot, Dimas Martín, and assures that it will not renounce its "legacy".
This is not about "trivial bribes" or I was just passing by. There are many people in Lanzarote who sleep peacefully, even more peacefully, since the arrival of the UCO.
Probably, many of those who accuse others of making parallel judgments cannot say the same, but then they are the first to make them in the sense that suits them. But evidently, from those who do not respect the law, it cannot be expected that they respect Justice.
