Málaga, (EFE).- The former socialist mayor of Estepona (Málaga) Antonio Barrientos has denied this Tuesday having committed urban irregularities during his time as councilor between 2003 and 2008, although he has stated that he cannot say the same about the police investigation .
Barrientos has been the first to sit on the bench of the defendants in the trial for the Astapa case, against political-urban corruption in Estepona (Málaga), and during his speech he has accused the National Police of “multiple irregularities and anomalies” “improper in a rule of law.”
The former councilor has refused to answer the questions of the Anti-Corruption Prosecutor and the rest of the lawyers appearing in the procedure, but the Court has authorized him to say a series of issues that he wanted to highlight before beginning the testimonial phase.
He denies that he allowed the expiration of files
Barrientos has stressed that he is not aware that files were paralyzed or delayed as the prosecutor maintains and has indicated that the period from 2003 to 2007 was one of great economic and urban development.
He explained that there was also a new Law on Urban Planning of Andalusia (LOUA), which is why there were delays and they were overwhelmed because, as the former councilor explained, there was no specific personnel assigned, “but there was never a prescription for files” .
He has denied that the files were allowed to prescribe and has explained that he delegated the powers related to urban discipline after two months to the mayor María Miralles, who was a person with political experience, according to Barrientos.
“No technician has ever received suggestions, propositions, and even less pressure on disciplinary files from the councilor or from anyone else,” the former mayor of Estepona reiterated about urban irregularities.
The Prosecutor’s Office accuses him of having left unresolved, consciously or due to political interests, close to a thousand alleged infractions for building on undeveloped land, expansion of homes or earthworks to avoid the cost at the polls that would have to sanction residents of the municipality.
Barrientos faces a total sentence of ten years and nine months in prison and 38 years of disqualification for the continued crimes of falsehood, fraud, embezzlement, bribery, prevarication and influence peddling.
Investigation since 2006 with almost 50 defendants
Miralles, who was an urban discipline delegate, also testified this Tuesday as a witness and stated that she consulted everything with the technicians because “she did not understand anything about urban planning.”
The exedil has assured that she did not receive instructions from Barrientos regarding urban planning and that the technician who handled the affairs never warned her that the files would expire.
Tomorrow the trial continues with more witnesses, including David Valadez, a mayor who was proclaimed mayor after the outbreak of the Astapa case and the outbreak of the Astapa case. admission to Barrientos prison.
The investigation began in November 2006 when two socialist councilors presented in Madrid, before the Economic and Fiscal Crime Unit (UDEF) of the National Police Corps, a letter accompanied by abundant documentation in which they denounced that in the vicinity of the City Council of In Estepona, crimes related to corruption could be committed.
The procedure began in 2007, 16 years ago, and now there are almost 50 defendants (including former councillors, businessmen and municipal employees), after the accusation for four has been withdrawn and another has reached an agreement in principle . EFE