The pulse between the colonel Diego Perez de los Cobos and the Minister of the Interior, Fernando Grande-Marlaska, does not seem to have slackened as a result of the sentence that has branded as illegal the dismissal that separated the civil guard from the headquarters of the Madrid command. In Interior they indicate that “they are studying it” and sources of his defense are also “studying” a new complaint over Grande-Marlaska’s insinuations about the control of reserved funds and the “Kitchen case”. The return is not expected easy.
The routes that are open are several. On the one hand, that Interior skips the two-month period and does not replace Pérez de los Cobos in his position. In which case, according to the Contentious Law “any of the parties and affected persons may request its forced execution” [artículo 104]. The colonel already showed his intention to return to his position when, after the first ruling of the National Court in 2021, he asked the judges to execute her. Then, the magistrates said no because we had to wait for the decision of the Supreme Court, but with it on the table, de los Cobos could request the materialization of what was sentenced at the end of May.
The minister, who these days has granted several interviews to put out the fire, said yesterday that they would abide by the ruling, but that they were “studying in detail” the arguments of the High Court. Some of the sources consulted point out the difficulty of relegating the current head of the capital command who has been in that position since 2020.
On the other hand, the judge of the National Court added that the Interior should proceed to “collect the salary differences not received from the effective date of the termination.” De los Cobos is currently in charge of the Central Intervention of Arms and Explosives so, according to sources consulted in the body, it could be a couple of thousand euros less per month.
Sources of his defense rule out that a complaint is going to be filed against Marlaska for possible prevarication after the High Court has identified that the cessation order was unfair. They point out that, in reality, this corresponds to the Secretary of State for Security and the proposal comes from the director of the Civil Guard, so that pursuing something like this in the courts I wouldn’t have a long way to go. However, They do contemplate a lawsuit for libel and slander following the minister’s statements about the reserved funds, insinuating mistrust in the colonel.