The long-awaited day of the appearance before the judge of the former mayor of Maracena, Berta Linares, for her alleged involvement in the kidnapping of the former socialist councilor Vanessa Romero has arrived. The former mayor has spent months defending her innocence and stating that she was waiting for this opportunity to prove it, two ideas that she reiterated this Wednesday upon her arrival in court.
At the gates of the judicial building in La Caleta, before entering to testify as an investigated person for this matter before the Investigating Court 5 of Granada, Linares has been received by a large number of press, where she has once again defended her “innocence”. and has relied on the file of the judicial investigation opened against her and the one who was a Town Planning councilor at the time of the events, Antonio García, as alleged inducers.
In the brief statements that she has made to the media, the former mayoress of Maracena has stated that she is “very happy” that the possibility of being able to testify in this case has finally occurred, of explaining her version of what happened and of being able to “demonstrate finally” his innocence and that of Antonio García, who is still a socialist councilor in the town council.
“What we hope is that everything goes well today and that the case can finally be archived and we can rest,” said Linares, who insisted, when asked by journalists, that she did not lie when she stated at a press conference that there had been no not seen his partner the day of the kidnapping but told what his lawyers and the Civil Guard told him “that it was the best” for the investigation. “And I did so; at all times I informed both the Police and the Civil Guard and they know it and I was the one who helped find and arrest him,” she emphasized.
Also appearing this Wednesday before the judge was the right-hand man of Linares and former Town Planning councilor, Antonio García, who has abounded in the argument that it will be now, in the investigation phase, when both he and the former mayor will be able to give their “explanations Faced with the accusations that the kidnapper has leveled against both of them, who has accused them of inducing him to commit the kidnapping of councilor Vanessa Romero, whom he put in a trunk with her head covered and tied with ties at her hands and feet.
The socialist mayor, now in opposition in the Maracena City Council, has stressed that the kidnapper’s statements “lack credibility” when asked about the part in which he stated that they gave him cocaine to commit the acts and has recalled the report forensic contribution to the case in which it is ruled out that he consumed this substance three months before what happened, based on the hair analysis carried out.
In this sense, Linares has insisted in various statements that the man arrested for the events and his ex-partner is bipolar, in addition to understanding that accusing her is part of the defense of her lawyers, which, according to her, diminishes the credibility of her version of the events. facts.
Asked why he has not renounced the act of councilor as Berta Linares has done, he has insisted that it is now, within the framework of the investigation, how much they have to give their version, which “has not been heard until now” and it is in this moment when it should be contrasted with what was said by the alleged kidnapper.
“You all know perfectly well that Berta did it (her resignation) precisely to facilitate a possibility of a pact and she did it precisely for the good of the party and for the good of Maracena. I believe that it is now when it is time for justice to put everything, to each one, on our site and this is finally over”, he argued.
The story of the kidnapping media is full of fringes and unknowns that include power struggles, personal hatred and possible corruption plots.
The events occurred on the morning of February 21, after the councilor dropped off her children at school and met the kidnapper, whom she knew because until then he was the couple of the mayoress of Maracena. The only defendant, currently in jail, allegedly gave him as an excuse to get into her car that had run out of gasoline and once inside the vehicle threatened her with a gun that the Civil Guard has confirmed was simulated.
At one point, he tied the mayor’s hands and feet with bridles, covered her head and forced her to get into the trunk of her vehicle, which she parked in a store in Armilla (Granada) before leaving. She managed to escape by kicking and asking for help, after which she reported the facts to the Civil Guard.
Not knowing that Vanessa had managed to escape, the kidnapper went to a hardware store to buy a knife and duct tape, at which time Linares called him to tell him about the mayor’s escape and that the Police were looking for him, always according to the version of the arrested.
So the kidnapper went to get a haircut, then to the train station, had a beer and took one to Maracena, where he was finally arrested. In that period of time from when they found out that the victim had fled until he was arrested, the expert reports show that there was a crossover of calls between all of them.
The suspicion of corruption is also on the table in this case, since the victim kept documents that proved irregularities in the files and that affected Linares and Noel López, who is not currently being investigated by the judge for being an autonomous deputy and therefore, gauged.
