The National Court has endorsed the decision to prosecute for terrorism Pompeyo González Pascual, the 74-year-old man accused of sending letters with explosive material to the President of the Government, Pedro Sánchez, last year; to the Minister of Defense, Margarita Robles, and to different embassies, among other organizations.
The judges of the second criminal section have rejected all the arguments with which the accused – a former official of the Vitoria City Council – intended to revoke his prosecution for crimes of terrorism and manufacture and use of explosive devices for terrorist purposes. In addition to disagreeing with this legal classification, the defendant requested that the case be archived due to the absence of indications that he participated in the sending of those envelopes, as indicated in his appeal.
The Chamber has rejected his appeal in an order in which it endorses the judge’s decision to prosecute him, based on procedures such as the searches carried out in the investigation, the documents and material seized, the intervention of communications, witness statements or reports. expert.
The court recognizes that there is no indication that the person under investigation belongs to or collaborates with a terrorist group, but emphasizes that the context of war in Ukraine in which the shipments occurred, the feasibility of the devices exploding or the recipients to whom they were directed It shows that they have the objective of seriously disturbing public peace and forcing public powers to refrain from supporting Ukraine. And he remembers that Two of the shipments were addressed to the President of the Government and the Minister of Defense, which would justify the aggravated modality of the crime of terrorism.
In their order, the magistrates also specify that it will be at the time of the trial when all the evidence is evaluated and it is decided whether it constitutes sufficient evidence to convict the person under investigation.