The Partido Popular has ended its role as acusación popular in the corruption complex Azud case The party’s parliamentary group spokesperson in Les Corts Valencianes, Nando Pastor, said on 18 September that the party was withdrawing its popular prosecution because “the justice system has done its job” and some of the alleged offences were time-barred.
The move follows the conclusion of the investigation by the Juzgado de Instrucción número 13 in Valencia. At the beginning of September, the investigating court opened the procedimiento abreviado against 38 defendants. The order cites possible offences including bribery, abuse of office, embezzlement and money laundering. Those affected include the lawyer José María Corbín, brother-in-law of the late former mayor Rita Barberá, three of Barberá’s nieces, and the former deputy mayor Alfonso Grau.
The Partido Popular’s withdrawal ends the party’s participation as popular prosecutor, but does not affect the progress of the proceedings. The prosecution and the court will continue with the case; a decision on whether to open the main trial will be made on the basis of the applications submitted and still to be examined. The Partido Popular’s stated reasons refer to the procedural situation following the conclusion of the investigation and to time-barred allegations; specific applications concerning individual defendants fall away with the withdrawal of the popular prosecution.
Acusación popular is a distinct form of participation in Spanish criminal proceedings, allowing parties, associations or citizens to act as prosecutors independently of whether they have themselves been affected. The Partido Popular’s withdrawal therefore reduces the number of active prosecuting parties, but does not affect public prosecution by the public prosecutor’s office. At the procedimiento abreviado stage, the remaining parties may apply for the main trial to be opened or for individual parts of the case to be dismissed; the court decides on the basis of the case file.
The Azud case concerns alleged corrupt structures linked to Valencia’s city administration over several terms of office. According to court documents and previous media reports, secret payments and improper influence over public contracts may have played a role. The order initiating the procedimiento abreviado summarises the investigation conducted over several years, distinguishes the offences that can still be prosecuted from those that are time-barred, and lays the groundwork for possible indictments by the public prosecutor’s office.
Politically, the Partido Popular is ending its active role in the case’s private prosecution. The core of the criminal proceedings remains with the state authorities. No statements on the guilt of those named have been made; they are presumed innocent until convicted by a final judgment.
Editor: Mira Cadena (Article created with AI assistance).