2023-05-25 14:55:24
The judge investigating the kidnapping of a socialist councilor in Maracena (Granada), which occurred last February, has requested that the Number Three of the Andalusian PSOE, Noel López, as stated in the judicial summary, whose secret has been lifted this Thursday. The magistrate, head of the court number 5 of instruction, also demands that the imputation of the current mayor of the town and head of the socialist list in the elections next Sunday, Berta Linares, ex-partner of the alleged kidnapper of the councilor, be studied. The third investigated is the mayor Antonio García Leyva, Linares’s right-hand man in the Granada City Council. The judicial sources consulted have not specified the crimes for which these three people are being asked to investigate. Until now, the only one investigated for the kidnapping is the ex-boyfriend of the mayoress, who is in pretrial detention.
The Andalusian socialist leader has denied “any relationship with the facts investigated” in a statement in which he announced that he will take action against the man arrested for the kidnapping of Maracena “for his slanderous statements.”
Noel López was mayor of Maracena between 2007 and 2021, when he resigned from office after being appointed Organization Secretary of the Andalusian PSOE. He is the cousin of the current mayoress. Due to his condition as a parliamentarian – he occupies the second secretary of the Autonomous Parliament Board – he enjoys appraisal; For this reason, the investigating judge does not charge him directly, but, finding evidence against him in the case, has sent an order to the Criminal Chamber of the Superior Court of Justice of Andalusia (TSJA) so that this body can decide whether or not to take a statement as investigated. The same procedure is followed with the other two aforementioned politicians (the mayoress and her right hand), so as not to divide the case in different judicial instances. The judge’s decision has been supported by the Prosecutor’s Office, according to the note released by the Andalusian superior court.
López Linares, 45, was elected secretary of organization and electoral action of the Andalusian PSOE at the 14th Party Congress held in Torremolinos (Málaga) in 2021 at the proposal of the general secretary, Juan Espadas. His appointment caused surprise in the Andalusian federation because he was not a well-known leader in the provincial groups. Traditionally, those responsible for socialist organizations have a lot of internal weight because they are considered the right hand of the general secretary. López Linares is a trusted person of Espadas, but without actually forming a close tandem with him, reports Lourdes Lucio.
The kidnapping of the socialist councilor Vanessa Romero by the then couple of the mayoress of Maracena (23,000 inhabitants) soon referred to an alleged plot of urban corruption in the municipality, which the investigators point out as a possible motive for the kidnapping.
The Maracena City Council has confirmed the condition of López and Linares as investigated. In a brief statement, the Consistory adds that it does not know the reasons for the imputation request. The mayor Antonio García Leyva, one of the three indicated by the judge, has assured EL PAÍS this Thursday that he was on his way to pick up the notification in which, as he had been told, he was informed that he is being investigated. “I don’t know what I have to do with all this,” he said.
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