The Valencia Court will resolve on Monday the petitions of the defendants in the Alquería case

The lawyers asked for the acquittal of their clients or to return the proceedings to the investigation phase when they saw their rights of defense diminished If the case goes ahead, the defenses have asked the court for the defendants to testify at the end of the trial Anti-corruption requests eight years in prison for Jorge Rodríguez and four other defendants This has been announced by the court that judges 14 people for the Alquería case, regarding allegedly irregular hiring of senior managers in the public company Divalterra -which was closed last June, to favor people related to the PSPV and Compromís. This Monday the hearing began for this procedure and all the defenses asked for the acquittal of their clients or to return the proceedings to the investigation phase as their defense rights were diminished. In case of going ahead, they asked the court that the defendants testify at the end of the trial, something to which the Anti-Corruption Prosecutor has opposed. The court, tra s listening to all parties, it has decided to resolve the preliminary issues on Monday and, if there are no changes, that same day the defendants in this proceeding will begin to testify. The case and the penalties Jorge Rodríguez faces a penalty, as as claimed by the Anti-Corruption Prosecutor, eight years in prison and 20 disqualification. The same prison request is extended to his former chief of staff in the provincial corporation, Ricard Gallego, and to advisor Manuel Reguart (both for necessary cooperation) and to the two former managers of the public company Divalterra, Agustina Brines (for Compromís ) and José Ramón Tiller (for the PSPV). The PP, which exercises the accusation, demands 18 years in prison for Rodríguez. The Alquería case focuses on the allegedly irregular hiring of senior managers in the public company Divalterra, which was closed last June, to favor people related to the PSPV and Compromís. Rodríguez was arrested on June 27, 2018, when he held the position of president of the Diputación, an institution from which he resigned in July, although he remained mayor of Ontinyent, a position he revalidated in the municipal elections of June 2019 with La Vall Ens Uneix, after leaving the PSPV in April of that same year. To Rodríguez, Reguart, the two former managers and Gallego, the Anti-Corruption Prosecutor attributes the crimes of administrative prevarication, embezzlement of public funds and falsehood in documents. official. In addition, the prosecutor asks for six years in prison for the seven people hired as senior management positions: one for false documents and five more for embezzlement of funds for co necessary operation; and another six for Divalterra’s lawyer-advisor, Jorge Cuerda, and another manager, Xavier Simón, for falsehood, embezzlement and prevarication. He also requests the dismissal of the case for another of those investigated.