José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero assumed this Thursday, in his first public interview on TVE since he was charged with alleged corruption offenses on May 19, the enormous concern that these accusations have caused in the socialist ranks. “I suffer a lot thinking that the PSOE might suffer because of the situation I am in, I suffer a lot,” he admitted. But to all socialists who maintain confidence in his innocence, starting with Pedro Sánchez, he conveyed: “I am not going to ask for an act of faith.”
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Precisely on the day that marks 26 years since he won the general secretariat of the PSOE, in July 2000, Zapatero assured that he has not felt left aside in the party, despite his legal problems. “For me, the most gratifying thing is that I have received many expressions of support and affection. But what I tell them is not to do it out of faith or affection, but out of conviction of the facts,” he warned. “I am convinced of my absolute innocence,” he stressed.
“All my colleagues who know me know how much I love the PSOE, everything I have fought for in my life for the PSOE, that I carry it in my blood,” he assured. And he has also assumed the political impact of this judicial process, about which, in any case, he did not want to make any “judgment of intentions,” both in the Government and in the PSOE. “I am very aware of what I represent and that is why I want to express my gratitude to all the people who are trusting me. Let them not do it out of faith or affection, which I value very much and in my heart will always be the support that the party and the general secretary of the party and president of the Government have given me, but let them do it for the facts. My duty is to explain the facts, to defend my innocence with the rules of law,” he argued. And he insisted on demanding respect for the presumption of innocence.
In this regard, the former president demanded from the leader of the PP, Alberto Núñez Feijóo, this respect for the presumption of innocence, and refuted his accusations, since the day before he warned that “without the Sánchez Government, Zapatero would not have been able to commit a crime.” “Until there is a firm sentence, no one here commits a crime, therefore, he should respect the presumption of innocence,” Zapatero replied. “No one can tell me that I have committed a crime until there is a firm sentence. It is the ABC of the rule of law. And he intends to be president of the Government!” he warned about Feijóo.
Zapatero reacts to Felipe González’s irony about his inability to create an offshore company in a tax haven: “He might know about that, I certainly don’t”
Zapatero also took a jab at former socialist president Felipe González, who ironized about his inability to create an offshore company in some foreign tax haven. “He might know about that, perhaps. I certainly don’t, and therefore I agree with him on that, I have never looked into what an offshore is and, indeed, I cannot create an offshore,” he concluded.
The former president thus broke a silence this Thursday that he had scrupulously kept in public, on the recommendation of his lawyer, since the same day he was charged by Judge José Luis Calama, on May 19, he released a video in which he denied all the accusations, which at that time referred to the alleged crimes of criminal organization, influence peddling, document forgery, and money laundering for the rescue of the airline Plus Ultra in 2021 for 53 million euros. As a result of the police search carried out that same day in his office, where some jewels later valued at 1.3 million euros were found, the judge also ended up charging him with alleged crimes of smuggling and against the Public Treasury.
After learning of his indictment, with the PSOE once again in a state of shock, the President of the Government, Pedro Sánchez, telephoned Zapatero on May 19. His explanations convinced him without a shadow of a doubt and, subsequently, he urged the entire socialist leadership to “defend the good name” of the former president against all odds. An unwavering defense that the head of the Executive has continued to maintain ever since, despite the fact that the wind and tide have continued to grow unchecked, as has the concern and discomfort in socialist ranks already very battered after the corruption cases in which his last two organization secretaries, former minister José Luis Ábalos –already sentenced to 24 years in prison– and Santos Cerdán, were also involved. Sánchez has acknowledged that he has maintained contact with Zapatero throughout this time after the indictments and that, as a result of these conversations, he continues to trust in his innocence.
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La Moncloa and the PSOE leadership reiterate their support for Zapatero and demand respect for the presumption of innocence of the former president
La Moncloa and the PSOE leadership have reiterated their confidence in Zapatero, after seeing this first interview of the former president on public television, despite having provided little certainty beyond defending his innocence. “The Government continues to state the same as in recent weeks. We support and ask for respect for the presumption of innocence of President Zapatero and his right to defend himself in the open procedure,” they argued.
And the PSOE leadership has assured that it “maintains exactly the same position it has defended from day one: absolute respect for the judicial procedure and defense of the presumption of innocence.” “Therefore, we maintain our support for President José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero,” they reiterated.
“President Zapatero wanted to address the public to offer public explanations and reaffirm his innocence. In his right to defense and out of respect for the procedure, he will complete his detailed explanation before the investigating judge,” they highlighted from Ferraz.
But they have focused, as Zapatero himself has done, on the fact that “the leakage of several complete years of personal agendas, with information that includes private data unrelated to the object of the investigation, is worrying.” “This type of leakage violates fundamental rights, fuels parallel trials, and has nothing to do with an investigation carried out with the guarantees inherent to a rule of law,” they warned.
“Against the noise, parallel trials, and anticipated convictions, the PSOE will continue to defend the rule of law. Investigations must be carried out with all guarantees and it is exclusively up to the courts, and not political or media campaigns, to determine the facts,” they concluded from Ferraz.
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