The Civil Guard and the Prosecutor’s Office have defended the investigation that led to the first arrests for the murders of the Civil Guards Miguel Ángel González and David Pérez, who were run over by a narco-speedboat in the port of Barbate (Cádiz) on February 9th, after a new report from the Civil Guard corrected the initial conclusions and concluded that the six detained and imprisoned for the double murder did not participate in the crime. The Director General of the Civil Guard, Leonardo Marcos, stated that “there was no rush in taking action”. “We acted immediately with the data we had at that time,” he said during a visit to Algeciras, where he met with the commanders in charge of the Special Plan for the Campo de Gibraltar. “Our work and commitment is to investigate and put all responsible parties at the disposal of justice,” he emphasized, expressing his confidence that the authors of the double murder will be arrested. In the same vein, the anti-drug prosecutor of Cádiz, Ana Villagómez, stressed that during the investigation, the exculpatory version of the detainees was taken into account, who, during their statement in court, admitted to being at the port that night aboard a narco-speedboat, but vehemently denied being the occupants of the one that caused the deaths. “Every criminal investigation is a dynamic process, during which evidence is specified, new evidence emerges, or, as in this case, some evidence is discarded. This is absolutely normal, as Justice requires time and is not instantaneous,” she added. The Public Ministry has accepted the thesis of the new Civil Guard report, although it leans towards keeping the detainees in preventive custody considering that the other two crimes they are being investigated for – smuggling and organized crime – carry sentences of up to seven years in prison, justifying their continued detention. The defense lawyers, who in recent months have seen their previous requests for release rejected, have begun to file new appeals based on the Civil Guard report.
The police report that exonerated the six detainees was prepared by a joint team created on 19th March, which included officers from the Cadiz command – who initiated the inquiries that led to the arrests – and specialists from the Central Operating Unit (UCO) who joined later. As detailed in the report, the group established “a specific working methodology” that conducted a “detailed and objective review of all the information with the ultimate goal of conducting an impartial analysis and an exhaustive study of it without any conditioning regarding the conclusions reached up to that point.” With this, the investigators continued, they intended to “obtain a broader view that shed light on the circumstances surrounding the serious events that led to the fatal outcome.” For this, they conducted “a thorough study of all the evidence gathered by the first police officers involved in the inquiries,” as well as the various forensic reports on the narco-speedboat occupied by the first detainees, which was found on a beach in La Línea de la Concepción (Cádiz). Additionally, they conducted “a new analysis of preserved video recordings and other technical and/or phone records.” The final result is the report that has turned the investigation around. “If we determine that the data we have at a given time require us to change or include new lines of investigation, we do so without any problem, because that is our job and our obligation, to provide the judicial authorities with all the necessary information to ensure that the criminal group is completely dismantled,” said the director of the Civil Guard in statements quoted by Europa Press. For her part, Prosecutor Villagómez said that “from the beginning” both investigators and the investigating judge and the prosecution took into account the defense offered by the suspects and their lawyers. “Initially, there were elements to support the charges against the suspects,” she explains, referring to the charges for the murder of the two civil guards and four other attempted murder charges against the other officers aboard the Civil Guard boat. “But a thorough investigation may lead to the discovery of new data and new conclusions (…) We can conclude that the suspects are not the perpetrators. This does not indicate that the Civil Guard acted impartially and professionally, because all they seek is the truth,” added the prosecutor, who does not believe that the preventive detention measure adopted last February should be changed. “Justice requires time and is not instantaneous,” she added.
The defense lawyers of at least four of the six detainees have requested, or will soon file, a request for the release of their clients based on the results of the Civil Guard’s expert report. Several sources consulted agree that, despite the turn of events, the effects will still take time to reach their clients. They also disagree with the position held by the Prosecutor’s Office of Cádiz, opposed to their release citing the remaining charges against them. “The severity of the allegations against them has changed substantially. They are no longer two murders,” explains lawyer Manuel Manzaneque, in charge of defending one of the detainees in preventive custody since last February. “This weekend we had four people detained in another High-Speed Boat (EAV) in Sanlúcar de Barrameda (Cádiz) and three of them were released, the sailors were released,” he explains. “As this is a high-profile case, it is governed by different parameters,” he assesses. The defense lawyers, who have worked collectively, have been insisting on the innocence of their clients from the beginning. One of these lawyers presented a forensic report in April in which a video reconstruction of the fatal attack on the Civil Guard boat was made using different recordings available, including those of their clients, and in which the quality of the images was enhanced to try to identify the narco-speedboats involved in the incident. “If the UCO had not intervened, our forensic report would not have been taken into account, despite being a very good and enlightening report,” adds lawyer Manzaneque. “The specialized Crime Unit of the Civil Guard has set things straight,” he maintains, after considering that the evidence available until then “had no basis” and “the evidence has proven to be dubious.
