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Ábalos will testify before the judge today, risking his imprisonment

The judge will review his release status after hearing the former minister's explanations: a report noted payments of €95,437 and some cash payments made by the PSOE, which will have to explain the circumstances.

Open them in a file image. Photo: EFE

Former Spanish Government Minister José Luis Ábalos is summoned today to testify before Judge Leopoldo Puente, who will examine his release status after hearing his explanations in the face of a report in which he found that he had not declared an income of 95,437 euros.

He will appear in an unusual context, since, except for last-minute surprise, he will be assisted by counsel José Aníbal Alvarez, whose services he resigned on Monday because of "unworkable inequalities", a situation which the magistrate has not accepted as "fraud of the law".

Counsel has confirmed that he will go to the Supreme Court and comply with the order of the magistrate, who reproached Ábalos for this manoeuvre as an attempt to force the appointment and suspension of the window.

No one knows what he will testify, and we do not know whether he will answer the questions of the judge and the prosecutor, or whether he will retain his right not to testify, but at previous hearings he answered both the judge and the lawyer.

In any event, it shall be essential for the subsequent review of the precautionary measures, which are currently subject to the withdrawal of the passport, the prohibition of leaving the country and the holding of court hearings.

In this way, Ábalos is at stake in his imprisonment, a request which was last requested by the popular accusations and which will be examined by the Public Prosecutor's Office, depending on how the appointment takes place. For the time being, several indictments have advanced that they will request his imprisonment.

Puente has called the former minister for the fourth time, this time following the UCO report, in which he detected expenses of €95,437 from "undeclared revenue", as well as cash payments from the PSOE, which do not correspond to the documentation submitted by that party to the Supreme Court.

The former socialist leader is being investigated for alleged commissions in the award of masks contracts in the midst of a pandemic, and in another branch of the case that also affects his successor, Santos Cerdán, for alleged bites in public works contracts when he was in charge of the Ministry of Transport.

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