The magistrate will remain in his post for six more months unless the titular judge, who is at the UN, joins first.
MADRID, 7 Nov. (EUROPA PRESS) –
The Permanent Commission of the General Council of the Judiciary (CGPJ) has agreed to renew another six months the service commission with relief of functions that Judge Alejandro Abascal has been carrying out in the Central Court of Instruction Number 1 (JCI 1) of the National Court, from which he is in charge, among others, of the ‘Gregorio Ordóñez case’ or the attack perpetrated by ETA against Terminal 4 of the Madrid-Barajas airport.
As reported by the governing body of the judges, the Permanent Commission has given the green light to the request made on September 13 by the Government Chamber of the National High Court, which highlighted “the need to continue the coverage of the square” of Abascal.
The measure, explains the CGPJ, is established for the aforementioned period of six months, unless the effective incorporation of the head of the Court or the magistrate to whom the vacancy was assigned occurs beforehand.
Specifically, it refers to the magistrate Luis Francisco de Jorge Mesa, holder of the post that is currently assigned to the United Nations, and to the magistrate Ana Mercedes del Molino, who is on secondment from duty with relief from duties in the Ministry of Justice.
As head of JC1, Abascal is in charge of investigating several former ETA chiefs for their alleged involvement in the murder of PP councilor Gregorio Ordoñez, perpetrated on January 23, 1995 in San Sebastián.
In addition, the magistrate is also trying to determine whether several former heads of the terrorist group had any involvement in the attack perpetrated on December 30, 2006 at T4 in Barajas.
On the other hand, Abascal is in charge of investigating ‘Soule’, a case in which he investigates alleged crimes of unfair administration, misappropriation and falsehood in a commercial document in the management of Ángel María Villar as president of the Royal Spanish Football Federation (RFEF).
In this court, the money trail is also followed in the case that investigates the funds that the former Spanish ambassador in Venezuela between 2004 and 2007, Raúl Morodo, and his family environment from the Venezuelan oil company PDVSA.
In addition, the Central Court Number 1 is in charge of the investigation into an alleged scam with cryptocurrencies that the company Algorithmhmics Group would have committed, leaving a balance of 300 affected and 100 million euros scammed.
The former holder of the position, judge Santiago Pedraz, ceased in that destination on March 8, 2021 to take charge of the Central Court of Instruction number 5. Thus, after a contest, the position of number 1 fell to the magistrate Luis Francisco de Jorge , who despite the appointment continued in special services in his previous assignment.
Despite the fact that Pedraz took charge of both courts while it was decided who would sit in front of court number 1, given the volume of business, it was agreed that in the second half of the year a magistrate would replace De Jorge. And that magistrate was Alejandro Abascal, who was already serving as a backup judge at number 6.
Subsequently, the Permanent Commission of the CGPJ ordered that a new position for JCI 1 should be announced because De Jorge had been granted an extension in the functions he performed in his post. That contest was for Judge Ana Mercedes del Molino, who on December 2 was assigned to the Ministry of Justice on secondment.
