He denies «sending» with Villarejo and talks about a good relationship with Jordi Pujol and a meeting with the churches: «I have nothing to be ashamed of»
Madrid, 5 (Europa Press)
The former Minister of the Interior of the PP, Jorge Fernández Díaz, stated on Wednesday in Congress that there is «no doubt» that the so-called «Operation Catalonia» is «an invention» that originated in a statement at the judicial headquarters of retired commissioner José Manuel Villalarejo. In addition, he denied ordering the spying on any political opponents, or Catalan independence or Podemos.
«It is an invention, I have no doubt. I can assure you that during my tenure at the ministry, I never heard of Operation Catalonia, never,» Fernández Díaz said before the Investigation Commission of «Operation Catalonia,» where he avoided references to the «kitchen case» as it is a pending process in which he is involved.
«If I may express myself, I would swear before the Gospels, if necessary: there was no» Operation Catalonia, «he said at the end of his appearance, in response to questions from the PP.
Fernández Díaz commented that he remembers «perfectly» the day when, at the back of a Council of Ministers of the European Union, his team first spoke to him about «Operation Catalonia.» According to him, it was due to «a teletype about a judicial appearance by Mr. Villarejo.»
«An ‘Operation Catalonia’ designed so that separatism had to be accused, not at all; I categorically deny it,» he said on several occasions, limiting this expression to private conversations that Villarejo and other commissioners could have, some of which «supposedly committed some illegalities for the reasons they were.»
If someone incorporated illegality, let them answer for it
In his appearance before Congress, Fernández Díaz denied ordering the spying on political opponents when the Podemos deputy, Ione Belarra, was searching based on police databases.
Podemos and other spokespeople have made allusions to statements as witnesses by commissioners such as Germán Castiñeira, who admitted that he refused at the request of the former head of the central operational support unit (UCAO) of the police to investigate the positions of Podemos.
«If it were true, I did not give that order. What political interest could I have?» And if any police officer engaged in any illegal practice, «let them answer,» he added when asked about the conviction of his operational deputy director (DAO), Eugenio Pino, in the case of the Pujol family’s Pendrive.
The former Minister recalled that he was «the tenth and last Minister of the Interior» with Villarejo as an active police officer, but he doubted the existence of the so-called patriotic police force that the PP government allegedly created.
What kind of police force registers the headquarters of the PP
«What kind of political police force conducts all operations on the party that supposedly leads it? I do not forget the 14 hours that the police were investigating a case at the Genoa headquarters,» he said.
In this regard, Fernández Díaz reiterated that he «never collaborated» with Villarejo, only greeted him twice at police events, and warned that some audios could be manipulated, when asked about a conversation that reproduces a dialogue between him, Eugenio Pino, and the former head of the Anti-Fraud Office of Catalonia, Daniel de Alfonso, in which he was attributed to saying that «the prosecution refines it» and he reiterated that this time he was not recorded by Villarejo.
«They are not a doctrine of faith or a dogma,» Fernández Díaz said about those audios that are part of the judicial summaries and that, in some cases, have been published by the media since, as he said, they are conversations that «embarrass themselves, recorded and postgraduate.»
Another issue addressed was the use of reserved funds, but Fernández Díaz commented that he did not manage this issue as it was the responsibility of his State Secretary for Security, Francisco Martínez, and the Director of Coordination and Studies, Diego Pérez de Los Cobos. «I assumed they were managing it correctly,» he said.
«Something that does not exist, I doubt that reserved funds were used,» he said in response to the PSOE about the possible use of public funds in the «Operation Catalonia.» He also denied «sending with judges and prosecutors» on specific issues and limited his relationship with the CNI to «information notes they received in a hand-carried envelope on terrorism issues,» as well as information services.
Marian Appearance for the note on «M. Rajoy»
Deputy Ione Belarra asked for his opinion on the «Marian appearance» in the papers of Luis Bárcenas-Eestestero of the PP-of a note attributed to «M. Rajoy,» to ask if it referred to 373,000 euros allegedly paid to the former Prime Minister.
«Well, one does not need to be a political scientist. If the question is simply whether ‘M. Rajoy’ refers to Mariano Rajoy, because I reasonably believe so; now, I’m not saying that this implies other conclusions and consequences,» said Fernández Díaz.
Fernández Díaz referred to Bárcenas again, acknowledging that he learned from a newspaper headline that a priest had entered his house, in the midst of controversy in the case of the old PP papers.
«I said: but, what is a priest doing entering the Bárcenas family’s house and threatening them?»
«It did not go on my agenda,» he said, before relating to the deputy of Sumar Aina Vidal defending that «he has a very clear conscience.» «I have nothing to be ashamed of about what I did at the Ministry of the Interior,» he began.
He told Pujol: «End this»
The former Minister reviewed his time in the interior department alluding to different meetings, such as the one held in 2016 in a congressional office with Pablo Iglesias, then leader of Podemos. «We had a wide-ranging conversation, over two hours, talking about politics and political relations,» he said, pointing out that he does not recall any complaints arising.
Taking advantage of the Junts interrogation, he also mentioned another previous meeting, in 2012, with the former Catalan leader Jordi Pujol, because they had a «long-standing» relationship that extended to the family of which he was the leader of CIU.
«I have respect for Mr. Pujol and I continue to maintain it,» Fernández Díaz said, and then explained that they discussed the incipient «process» of independence and that he made a plea to his «authorities» to say: «End this, President.»