Spain’s anti-corruption prosecutors have reaffirmed their demand for 15-year prison sentences for former Interior Minister Jorge Fernández Díaz and several senior officials as the high-profile ‘caso Kitchen’ trial enters its final phase at the Audiencia Nacional. Prosecutors allege that Fernández Díaz, Francisco Martínez, former Secretary of State for Security, and Eugenio Pino, former Deputy Operational Director of the National Police, coordinated an illegal operation in 2013 to obtain sensitive documents held by Luis Bárcenas, the Partido Popular’s former treasurer. The material could have been relevant to investigations into alleged corruption and illegal party financing during the Gürtel scandal.
Prosecutors allege that Bárcenas’s driver, Sergio Ríos, was recruited as an informant to help locate or obtain the documents. The prosecution attributes coordinating roles to senior Interior Ministry and police officials and alleges that Commissioner José Manuel Villarejo helped recruit Ríos. The defendants’ legal teams dispute the prosecution’s interpretation of the evidence and their clients’ alleged involvement. The trial chamber’s basic questions include who authorized the operation and whether the evidence establishes the individual responsibility prosecutors allege.
During Monday’s session, prosecutors withdrew charges against police commanders José Ángel Fuentes Gago and Bonifacio Díez Sevillano. They are seeking 15 years in prison for Fernández Díaz, Martínez, Pino and Commissioner Andrés Gómez Gordo; 19 years for Villarejo; nearly 12 years and six months for Ríos; and two years and six months for Commissioner Marcelino Martín Blas. These are prosecution requests, not sentences. The Audiencia Nacional’s trial chamber will decide the outcome after considering the evidence and arguments.
The oral hearings, underway since April, have moved to closing submissions. On Monday, Commissioner José Luis Olivera, Fuentes Gago and Díez Sevillano testified. With examinations of the defendants concluded, the parties are to present their final arguments, followed by the defendants’ chance to make final statements before the court deliberates. The end of the evidence hearings and closing arguments does not establish when judgment will be issued.
The case has drawn comparisons with other major corruption proceedings in Spain, including the suspension of Víctor de Aldama’s sentence in the ‘caso Koldo’. That case also prompted debate over prosecutorial decisions and the handling of high-profile defendants. For more context on the Supreme Court’s actions, see the report here.
Political criticism has also reached former prime minister Mariano Rajoy, whom political commentators have identified as a witness in the Audiencia Nacional proceedings. Transport Minister Óscar Puente called it “absolutely surprising, if not unacceptable” that Rajoy had not been tried over alleged links to Kitchen or Gürtel. PSOE parliamentary spokesperson Patxi López said he hoped justice would be equal for everyone and described Kitchen as an operation “set up and ordered by the Partido Popular with a specific objective.” These are political statements, not a judicial finding that Rajoy committed an offence.
The proceedings have focused attention on the alleged use of police resources to obtain material connected to a corruption investigation. The outcome will determine the defendants’ criminal responsibility before the court and may shape public debate about accountability within Spain’s security institutions.
