The Supreme Court has sent the complaint to the court of Algeciras for alleged crimes against sexual freedom filed against the former mayor José Ignacio Landaluce, after concluding that it is no longer competent to instruct it, having lost his status as senator with the dissolution of the chambers.
The Criminal Chamber agreed to send the document to the Common Registry and Distribution Service of Algeciras, former dean's office, for it to be distributed to the competent court. The court thus takes a procedural step that removes the case from the Supreme Court, but does not yet resolve the merits of the accusations.
The complaint loses its jurisdiction and goes down to the original judicial district
The complaint reached the Supreme Court in September and was filed by a PP militant, who accused Landaluce of an alleged crime against sexual freedom and, complementarily or subsidiarily, of a crime against Public Administration.
According to the Supreme Court, the accusation is based on article 443 of the Penal Code, which punishes sexual solicitation by an authority or public official, and on 445, relating to acts aimed at preparing crimes such as prevarication, bribery, influence peddling or embezzlement.
In that complaint, disseminated in the following days by Europa Sur, the complainant attributed two alleged sexual assaults to the then mayor: one in December 2020, in the medical center he owns, and another in April 2021, in municipal offices. That version is part of the accusatory narrative, but does not in itself constitute a judicial assessment of the facts.
Another case is already being investigated in the Court of Violence against Women
The Supreme Court's move coincides with the processing of another complaint filed on October 12 by a second PP militant from Algeciras, in this case a young woman from Nuevas Generaciones who works as a municipal trusted position. In that document, the complainant attributes another alleged sexual assault to Landaluce that occurred in his office.
That case is being instructed in court number 2 of Violence against Women, which last week began investigations, took statements from the complainant and two popular councilors as witnesses, and also from Landaluce himself, who has reiterated that he is innocent.
The accumulation of complaints led the PP of Cádiz to ask for Landaluce's resignation, a party member for 34 years. His refusal caused twelve of the fifteen popular councilors who supported him, following party guidelines, to abandon the government and promote a motion of no confidence with the support of the four Vox councilors.
The motion is set for Wednesday, November 28, although Landaluce got ahead and registered his resignation request this past Sunday. Meanwhile, the distribution of the case in Algeciras and the open investigation into Violence against Women now remain as the two judicial fronts still pending.