The former minister and former president of the Generalitat with the PP Eduardo Zaplana denied this Wednesday that he participated in the fixing of the Valencian ITV together with the then director general of the Police, Juan Cotino, and that he obtained any remuneration on his part because “he was fatal” with him.
The president of the Fourth Section of the Provincial Court of Valencia gave the floor again this Wednesday to Zaplana to respond to another of the defendants, his former chief of staff Juan Francisco García, who has returned to testify as legal representative of the firm Double Figures Consultants.
Taking advantage of García’s presence on the stand, the prosecutor has asked him again about the corrupt operation that this defendant described for the rigging of the contest for the privatization of the Technical Vehicle Inspection stations of the Valencian Community.
The man who was Zaplana’s chief of staff and president of that contracting table has once again explained that it was Juan Cotino, in a meeting in which Zaplana was also present, who showed him his interest in the rigging.
The prosecutor specifically asked if Zaplana and Cotino made that decision, to which the accused responded affirmatively. “The three of us were aware of the process that began at that moment,” he added.
Zaplana’s lawyer, Daniel Campos, has protested to the court because, in his opinion, only questions related to the firm Double Figures, of which Juan Francisco García is the owner, should be admitted, but the president has not only allowed all questions but has also offered this lawyer the possibility of questioning the former minister again.
In this way, Zaplana has assured that he never spoke with Juan Cotino about this matter and that “if the accusation gives so much importance to their agendas”, it will be possible to verify that on that date, at the end of 1997, “there was no meeting in which he was with Juan Francisco García and Juan Cotino”.
“There is a public and notorious element of evidence. I did not say it because the prosecutor did not continue asking me, but I said that my relationship with Cotino was limited, it was not excessive. From 2003 onwards I did not have any. We got along terribly, I broke off relations with the Government of (Francisco) Camps. That was a barbaric episode from a political and media point of view. It is known to everyone,” he added.
He then stated: “When Cotino is in charge of sending me remuneration – as García stated yesterday – I don’t know why, I had no relationship with him. It wasn’t until I got out of prison, in 2018, that I regained a harmony that I had previously had. But between 2003 and 2018 we did not have a single conversation, and I do not know Vicente Cotino (his nephew).