Former Prime Minister José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero has publicly come out to defend his innocence, his work as a consultant after leaving his political career, and to deny that he exerted any influence in favor of companies, specifically Plus Ultra. The former socialist leader has come forward 48 hours after his friend Julio Martínez Martínez chose to cooperate with justice and point to him as the ideologist and manager of the activities of the company investigated by the National Court, Análisis Relevante.
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In the interview, granted to TVE, Rodríguez Zapatero also wanted to clarify certain details about the jewels seized from the safe in his office when it was searched by the Economic and Fiscal Crime Unit (UDEF) of the National Police. The jewels have been valued at 1.3 million euros, and he has not yet clarified their origin and provenance to the judge.
Despite this, he did say in the interview that it is “a story without intention.” “They are a personal courtesy gift, from many years ago. They had no use or purpose, nor did we know their value.”
The socialist has indicated that they will submit the jewels for another appraisal for contradiction because he does not agree with the value set by the judicial experts. Although he did not want to clarify who gave them to him, he insisted that they do not have a “patrimonial desire.”
In fact, as he indicated, they kept them in the safe along with other family jewels, his and his wife Sonsoles Espinosa’s, and other gifts, and “we have never talked about them.”
“I want and must, with respect to the judicial procedure, clarify all circumstances before justice. I want to explain all the details to the judge,” he indicated. When he appeared to testify as an investigated party before the instructor of the National Court, José Luis Calama, on June 17, he said he would be able to clarify the origin of the jewels within a week, something that has not happened to date, according to legal sources.
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After analyzing the jewels, the magistrate extended his indictment to the crime of smuggling and tax fraud. In the interview, Zapatero denied having committed either of the two crimes.
“I had no intention of defrauding whatsoever, and we are going to clarify it. We had it there as a personal courtesy gift with no specific purpose. That is the truth,” he clarified, adding that “I have never entered a jewelry store.” After defending that the jewels have no relation to his political work, he acknowledges that “each citizen will have their own interpretation.”
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Regarding what was declared by Julio Martínez Martínez, he said he respects his defense strategy but denies his statements. The former Prime Minister maintained what he stated before the judge, that his friend decided in 2020 to create a consulting company, Análisis Relevante, and hired him as the main consultant. But the company, contrary to Martínez’s claims, was neither Zapatero’s nor a vehicle for his businesses. “I have not been corrupted at all. I have always respected legality,” he added.
“Análisis Relevante was established before the pandemic. Julio Martínez established it with other partners. I accepted to be a consultant. I see it as normal that I would be remunerated for my work as a consultant,” he indicated.
The former leader of the socialists has insisted on his innocence and has again flatly denied having made any arrangements, neither in the Government nor in SEPI, in favor of the airline Plus Ultra to obtain a rescue of 53 million euros. “I didn’t know what the SEPI board was going to do. I didn’t intervene in anything, I didn’t know. And that is the truth,” he emphasized.
He also denied that Martínez’s claim that Zapatero warned him days before the approval was true. “I did not warn Julio about SEPI. I didn’t know,” he defended.
Zapatero has strongly insisted on disassociating himself from a supposed creation of an offshore company in Dubai. Martínez explained this week that there was a business proposal, but they discarded it due to its complexity. “Never in my life have I spoken of an offshore company. I am protected by the presumption of innocence, both procedural and extra-procedural,” he noted.
He denies, contrary to what was stated by the judge and the UDEF, that he gave instructions to create an offshore company. “It’s like saying I gave instructions to go to the Moon. It’s an absolute invention, a mistake. It seems like an unusual inference to me,” he maintained. “It is evident that I have not given instructions to create offshore, so that will have to be assumed by someone,” he concluded.
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