Overview

• Santos Cerdán’s defense filed two petitions on September 8 seeking his immediate release and requesting testimony from UCO officers, including Lt. Col. Antonio Balas and Cmdr. Rubén Villalba, alleging unjustified transfers of information and irregular sourcing of material.
• The filings argue that the February 4 order authorizing a review of intercepted communications breached protections for aforados and request that the Supreme Court notify Congress of potential violations.
• The defense questions the origin and integrity of audios and messages attributed to Koldo García, claiming they came from phones provided by Villalba and asserting that evidence seals were manipulated.
• His lawyers contend the case was steered to influence government action and argue that timelines tied to the risk of evidence destruction have been exceeded since the probe began in February, noting he has spent 70 days in pretrial detention.
• The submissions dispute the corruption narrative by saying there is no proof of payments or enrichment, citing a Transport Ministry audit of Acciona contracts with no objections, and labeling Víctor de Aldama’s testimony as false and tied to separate VAT fraud; the investigation continues into alleged bribery, influence peddling and organized crime.