The lawyers representing the former mayor of Granadilla, Jaime González Cejas, and six former councillors accused of malfeasance in the so-called Médano Park case maintain that the withdrawal a week ago of the private prosecution brought by Sí se Puede (SSP) leaves the case «devoid of substance».
The private prosecution had sought a prison sentence of up to 53 years for alleged offences of embezzlement and influence-peddling, although the proceedings are currently limited to an offence of perverting the course of justice, for which the Public Prosecutor’s Office is seeking a ten-year disqualification for González Cejas and between five and seven years for the other defendants.
The origins of the procedure date back to the processing of the Médano Park partial development plan in 2004.
Granadilla: Public Prosecutor’s Office identifies a conflict of interest regarding the development plan
According to the Public Prosecutor’s Office, the former mayor held some 440 shares in the management company and, despite this, did not abstain from voting at the meetings of the Governing Board and the full council, just like the other councillors facing prosecution.
After selling his shares to another company, González Cejas received 212,500 euros and subsequently withdrew from the property development project.
The defence has applied for a stay of proceedings, citing the limitation period
At the start of the hearing held this Friday at the Provincial Court of Santa Cruz de Tenerife, the defence lawyers requested that the trial be stayed, arguing that the original charges no longer correspond to the sole offence remaining in the case, which, in their view, prevented the defendants from mounting an adequate defence during the preliminary investigation.
The lawyers also argued that the case was time-barred, as almost twenty years had elapsed since the complaint was lodged in 2006, and requested that a financial report drawn up by the Guardia Civil and a land valuation linked to the initial allegations of embezzlement be excluded from the case file.
Prosecution calls for the case to continue; court to rule later
The Public Prosecutor’s Office has challenged five decisions taken by the City Council between 2004 and 2006 which allowed for the development of a plot of land measuring almost 88,200 square metres, and has argued in favour of the trial continuing, maintaining that the defendants did in fact give evidence during the preliminary investigation.
Following a recess, the court agreed to continue the hearing in accordance with the scheduled timetable and to defer the resolution of the preliminary issues until the judgement.
The development plan received positive comments, subject to certain conditions
According to the Public Prosecutor’s Office, the then mayor initially approved the local development plan despite being aware of his corporate links with the developer and the potential conflict of interest arising from that financial interest. The Governing Board subsequently ratified that decision.
The plan subsequently received favourable reports, subject to certain conditions, from the then Canary Islands Commission for Spatial Planning and the Environment (COTMAC) and the Tenerife Island Council.
The Public Prosecutor’s Office also maintains that the City Council defended the development project on the grounds of the financial benefit it would bring to the local authority, estimated at around 927,500 euros, despite the fact that, according to the Public Prosecutor’s Office, the land in question did not meet the necessary planning conditions for such a project.
«Defence lawyers say Médano Park case is invalid without prosecution»
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