The Civil Guard's DAO resists pressure to resign despite his indictment in the 'Leire case': "Absolutely not"

Manuel Llamas arrived this Friday at the Senate with his resignation ruled out beforehand. The operational deputy director (DAO) of the Civil Guard faced one of the first questions he expected, if he planned to leave office after being charged in the Leire case, and responded without room for doubt, "absolutely." The lieutenant general insisted that he does not consider his honor questioned for being investigated, and added that, even if he were to be prosecuted, he would not consider resigning either.

Llamas' firmness contrasts with the pressure he has received in recent weeks to leave his post. Different associations of commanders and Civil Guard officers jointly requested his dismissal shortly after the indictment became known, and a former head of the force in Catalonia even publicly demanded that he resign "for honor." The PP also demanded his departure, calling his continued leadership of the force "untenable." Despite this, Llamas himself explained that he has the backing of the Minister of the Interior, Fernando Grande-Marlaska, who reportedly personally conveyed his support after the indictment and described his procedural situation as "unjust."

Llamas also responded to criticism about the instructions given to commanders of the Central Operative Unit (UCO). As he explained, when he asked that investigators not be "proactive" he did not intend to limit any investigation, but rather to remind them that the direction of judicial cases corresponds to judges and not to the agents in charge of executing them. In turn, he lamented what he considers an "excess of protagonism" accompanied, in some cases, by certain "vanity" on the part of certain investigators. Without mentioning names, he maintained that some members of the Civil Guard have assumed functions that, in his opinion, exceed the role that corresponds to them within a judicial investigation.

Llamas' defense before the Audiencia Nacional

During his appearance this Thursday before Pedraz, Llamas defended that the reserved investigations opened to clarify several journalistic leaks related to the Central Operative Unit (UCO) responded to a procedure provided for in the internal regulations of the force and did not seek to exert pressure on the investigators.

In the statement that lasted for nearly three hours and in which he appeared as a suspect in the framework of the 'Leire Díez case', the lieutenant general denied having ordered or promoted actions aimed at conditioning the work of the UCO. According to legal sources, he also denied having asked any member of the Civil Guard to "turn a blind eye" in the investigations against the Government.

The appearance of the DAO is part of the investigation opened by Judge Pedraz which seeks to clarify, among other aspects, whether the opening of several confidential reports was related to the alleged influence that the former socialist militant would have exerted over the leadership of the Civil Guard. The case also analyzes the role of the director general of the Civil Guard, Mercedes González, whose statement scheduled for this Thursday has been postponed until tomorrow Friday due to the length of Llamas' interrogation.

The lieutenant general has also claimed to have suffered a "campaign of discredit and disinformation" since his name appeared linked to the procedure. The lieutenant general thus defended that the investigated actions were framed within the procedures provided by the internal regulations of the Civil Guard.