Judge Pedraz indicts former Civil Guard director Leonardo Marcos for alleged pressure on the UCO in the 'David Sánchez case'

The 'Leire Díez case' has reached the man who was leading the Civil Guard when two former UCO officials placed the alleged pressures on their investigations. Judge Santiago Pedraz has summoned Leonardo Marcos, the highest authority of the Armed Institute between June 2023 and September 2024, as an investigated party, so that he may testify on September 10 at the Audiencia Nacional.

The decision places under investigation three current or recent officials from the Civil Guard's leadership. The current director general, Mercedes González, and the deputy operational director, Manuel Llamas, already appeared in July for alleged crimes of prevarication and obstruction of justice. Both denied having participated in any maneuver aimed at intimidating agents or stopping cases affecting the PSOE and the Government.

Pedraz has now accepted the request of the popular prosecution coordinated by the Popular Party. The order sets Leonardo Marcos's interrogation for 10:00 a.m., although it does not specify the crimes attributed to him nor does it elaborate on the evidence by which he acquires the status of an investigated party.

The pressures denounced by the former UCO chiefs

Marcos's name entered the center of the case due to the statements of Rafael Yuste and Alfonso López Malo, two former officials of the Central Operative Unit. The commanders reported that they received instructions to "stay on the sidelines" and "not be proactive" in investigations with "political implications," including the one then open on David Sánchez, brother of the President of the Government.

The UCO was investigating at that time the creation of the position held by David Sánchez in the Provincial Council of Badajoz. The agents had requested access to several corporate email accounts to reconstruct how the position was designed and awarded, a diligence that angered the then director general.

According to the account incorporated into the case, Marcos described the UCO's official letter as "totally prospective and malicious" and maintained that the unit's credibility was "at rock bottom." He also allegedly demanded that everything be "analyzed and that there be nothing" in just one week, despite the fact that investigators had to review a large volume of emails before informing the judge.

Yuste explained that that deadline was materially impossible and refused to artificially accelerate the analysis. The former commanders understood Marcos's words as pressure to reduce the UCO's initiative, although they also specified that the indication about political causes was formulated in general terms and without mentioning only the PSOE.

The judge had already refused to investigate Leonardo Marcos on July 2. He then considered that the described conduct, by itself, did not allow for the appreciation of a crime, but left open the possibility of reviewing his decision after carrying out new proceedings. After hearing the DAO and examining the statements of the commanders, Pedraz has ended up calling him to the procedure.

The popular prosecution argues that it was inconsistent to investigate Mercedes González and Manuel Llamas without questioning whoever was the hierarchical superior of the DAO during the events. The PP wants to clarify what knowledge Marcos had of the confidential information opened within the corps, what instructions he conveyed to the UCO, and whether he coordinated any action with the other investigated parties.

Mercedes González and the DAO deny any maneuver

Manuel Llamas testified for about three hours on July 16. The DAO denied having ordered the UCO to stand aside and defended that the confidential information opened for possible leaks to the media were ordinary procedures provided for in the internal regulations of the Civil Guard.

His defense has now provided WhatsApp messages and transport tickets to prove that he was in Logroño during one of the meetings indicated by the former commanders. Llamas acknowledged that he met that same afternoon with heads of Judicial Police and the UCO, although he assured that the conversation was focused on the organization of holidays and the continuity of work during the summer.

Mercedes González appeared the next day and completely disassociated herself from the alleged plot. The director acknowledged two meetings with Leire Díez, denied that there was a third, and stated that she never related those conversations to the internal investigations opened later. She also assured that she "flatly" rejected Díez's request to facilitate the return of Commander Rubén Villalba, investigated in the 'Koldo case'.

González went so far as to present herself before the judge as a victim of Santos Cerdán. According to her statement, she would never have received Leire Díez if she had known that she was acting on behalf of the then Secretary of Organization of the PSOE. The director defended that none of her decisions sought to harm the UCO or protect the Government from its investigations.

Pedraz has refused to provisionally remove González and Llamas from command over the unit, as the accusations had requested. The magistrate recalled that the UCO acts as Judicial Police and depends directly on the court during this investigation. He also indicated that she must report any attempt at interference or situation in which she feels "disturbed in her functions."

Fernando Grande-Marlaska has limited himself to expressing his "absolute respect for judicial resolutions" after the indictment of Leonardo Marcos became known. The Minister of the Interior maintains his confidence in Mercedes González and Manuel Llamas, who remain in their positions despite the calls for resignation made by PP, Vox and several professional associations of the Civil Guard.

Pedraz has also summoned on September 10, half an hour after Leonardo Marcos, the chief prosecutor of Badajoz, José Luis Alonso Tejuca. The judge wants to reconstruct the processing of a complaint filed against Leire Díez and to know the communications maintained between the State Attorney General's Office and the Provincial Prosecutor's Office of Badajoz.

The judicial request includes the original complaint, reports, drafts, decrees, internal annotations and resolutions incorporated into the file. Pedraz also demands all emails, messages, notes, call records and communications exchanged by the prosecutors and officials who participated in its processing.