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Judge releases former Minister José Luis Ábalos

The Supreme Court Judge has decided to release former Minister Ábalos.\u00Ábalos has today invoked his right not to testify before the judge.

MADRID, 15/10/2025.- El exministro Jose Luis Ábalos, a su llegada este miércoles al Tribunal Supremo, donde está citado para declarar ante el magistrado Leopoldo Puente, que revisará su situación de libertad tras escuchar sus explicaciones ante un informe que detectó "desembolsos" de 95.437 euros de ingresos sin declarar, así como descuadres en algunos pagos en efectivo que le hizo el PSOE. EFE/Zipi Aragón
Former Minister José Luis Ábalos, at the Supreme Court. Photo: EFE

Supreme Court Judge Leopoldo Puente decided on Wednesday to release former Minister José Luis Ábalos , according to legal sources.

The popular accusations demanded pre-trial detention on bail of 650,000 euros, a request that the Chief Anti-Corruption Prosecutor, Alejandro Luzón, has not supported. Ábalos has today invoked his right not to testifybefore the judge. 

Ábalos left the court five hours later, by the same door, and with the precautionary measures already on him: the prohibition of leaving the country, the withdrawal of the passport, and the fortnightly hearings.

The judge says in his car that "the fact that a person with strong indications of such a crime can remain a Member of Parliament gives me some surprise, and I think it is a good reason for reflection", he adds.

Legal sources have informed EFE that the former minister, for the first time in his four statements to the Supreme Court, has invoked his rightnot to testify  and not to give explanations.



The former minister has been silent when the judge has forced him to appear with his lawyer on the grounds thathe is defenceless. Dude two days ago he decided not to continue his services because of the "unworkable discrepancies" between the two.

The judge has summoned the former minister to testify for the fourth time, this time following the UCO report, which found expenditure of €95,437 and payments of "undeclared income" and cash from the PSOE, which did not correspond to the documentation submitted by that party to the Supreme Court.

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