Court reopens spying case against Madrid government

Madrid's provincial court has reopened a case of alleged political espionage perpetrated by former Civil Guard and police officers contracted by the regional government of Esperanza Aguirre using public money. The court upheld an appeal presented by the Socialist party against the shelving of the case.

The targets of the surveillance, Madrid Deputy Mayor Manuel Cobo and former Madrid regional justice minister Alfredo Prada, both of Aguirre's Popular Party (PP), had also intended to appeal against the shelving of the case but backed down after receiving a phone call from PP leader Mariano Rajoy telling them to obey the ruling. Both Cobo and Prada were opponents of Aguirre in the party leadership battle, in which Rajoy renewed his position.

"As the procedures currently stand, no motives exist to proceed with the provisional dismissal and shelving of them," said the order. "In the procedural actions that have been carried out, sufficient indications appear of the committing of the crime of embezzlement of public funds in order for the trial to be continued."

The order is not only limited to demanding Judge Carmen Valcarce complete the proceedings left unfinished, but also to confirming that the evidence gathered during the investigation showed sufficient indications that agents employed by the Madrid regional government followed the two PP politicians.

Cobo and Prada were allegedly monitored during April and May 2008, after refusing to support Aguirre in any leadership challenge against Rajoy at the Popular Party congress after its general election defeat in March that year.

The court said police reports that pieced together cellphone records, positioning data and the texts of the surveillance reports provided sufficient proof that three Madrid regional security consultants- José Luis Caro, Antonio Coronado and José Oreja - hand-picked by regional interior minister and PP-Madrid secretary general Francisco Granados - were the authors of the reports on Cobo and Prada. All the report notes relating to Cobo coincide with the presence of agents in the environs of his office, as certified by cellphone data.

The court also said another agent employed by the Madrid regional government, José Manuel Pinto, also made notes in the monitoring reports, and that it also saw sufficient evidence against former regional security director Sergio Gamón, who continued in his post until his ex-wife and former secretary to Aguirre told EL PAÍS that he was the chief of the spying team under the orders of regional vice premier Ignacio González.

The court has asked the judge to gather data related to the expenses of the alleged spies in order to quantify the amount of public funds embezzled before the trial begins against them.