Who are the controversial Spanish judges who suspended the extradition to the United States of the former head of Chavista intelligence Hugo “El Pollastre” Carvajal

after the arrest last Thursday, September 9, of Hugo “El Pollastre” Carvajal in Madrid, This Monday the Third Criminal Section of the National High Court, a court based in the Spanish capital, resolved to suspend the extradition of the former head of Chavista intelligence to the United States.

The decision left the controversial judges Alfonso Guevara, Carlos Fraile and María Teresa García at the center of criticism. for having stopped the extradition of the former Venezuelan spy, who is accused by Washington of “Cocaine Flood” in the country together with the Colombian guerrillas of the FARC, of close link with the Chavista dictatorship.

Of the three magistrates, the most experienced and, in turn, the most controversial is Guevara. Born in Salamanca in 1956, he is president of the Third Section of the National High Court. In addition to being characterized by his bad genius and bad manners, he is known to be extremely guarantor of the rights of the accused, regardless of the charges against him. He follows the legislation to the letter.

Many colleagues consider him one guaranteed guarantor, While others argue that he does not have a broad view of reality when it comes to failing.

In an article published in 2012, the local newspaper the Confidential lor define as “quite the opposite of what is expected of a judge.” At that time he was embroiled in a controversy for having released the Chinese mafia leadership, in the framework of the case known as “Operation Emperor”.

In November this year, bound by the resolution of the Third Criminal Section, the judge of the National High Court, Fernando Andreu, He ordered the release of the leader of the Chinese mafia based in Spain, Gao Ping, And 11 other defendants, including his wife Yang Lizhen. However, in his ruling he clarified that he did not share Guevara’s view, who alleged that the defendants had been illegally over 72 hours detained.

The Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office also rejected the release, and, for fear of leakage, asked Andreu to impose it on the defendants. daily appearances, the ban on leaving Spain and the withdrawal of passports.

In mid-2013, two Ping collaborators fled. Guevara was harshly criticized for his decision and was accused of thwarting one of the biggest blows against money laundering in Spain.

The dome of the Chinese mafia she was charged with crimes of membership in a criminal organization, smuggling, crimes against the public treasury and money laundering, among others.

His treatment scary i distant it always made joint work with prosecutors difficult. The “Operation Emperor” was not the only case in which Guevara failed against all. Years earlier he had released the terrorist Antonio Troitiño, a longtime member of the extremist organization ETA. After not applying the Parot Doctrine, a rule devised by another magistrate of the National Court, Javier Gómez Bermúdez, and ratified by the Supreme Court, he had to rectify his decision. But it was too late: the terrorist had already fled.

In the same way that it is remembered by his verbal confrontations with several ETA members, he is also known – and questioned – for his acquittals for lack of evidence, errors in investigations or violation of fundamental rights.

He has repeatedly had it strong outbursts against police officers, court officials or witnesses to the cases. At just 30, he had already been charged with abuse of authority by lawyers, witnesses and detainees.

“Without valid evidence there can be no conviction. People cannot make parallel judgments. Any accusation needs to be proven, “he said last year in an interview with the newspaper ABC.

On allegations of ill-treatment, shouting and abuse of authority, he replied: “I don’t intend to mistreat them, but I have to keep order and put an end to extravagances. Sometimes I think they don’t feel me.”

María Teresa García Quesada held in the last years the position of magistrate in the Third Section whereas now judge Juan Carlos Camp Bru, Former Minister of Justice, was in “administrative situation of special services in the judicial career”.

next Carlos Fraile, One of the most resonant cases in which the magistrate participated is the one known as “Tandem”, In which the theft of the mobile phone was investigated Dina Bousselham, Advisor to the former Second Vice President of Spain, Pablo Iglesias, Who was involved and was investigated by Justice.

In October last year Manuel García Castelló, Judge of the National High Court asked the Supreme Court to investigate the leader Podemos for the crimes of discovery and disclosure of secrets, with gender aggravation, computer damage and false accusation or accusation and / or simulation of crime.

However, the Third Section of the Criminal Chamber of the National High Court returned to Churches the condition of “harmed” in the case and has called the judge’s arguments “mere hypotheses.”

At present, the three judges are once again in the spotlight of the controversy, within the framework of the case of “The Chicken” Carvajal. This is the second time that the Venezuelan ex-spy has been arrested on Spanish soil. In April 2019 he was also arrested in Madrid after entering the country with a fake passport. But at that time the National High Court denied his extradition on the understanding that the United States was claiming him for “political motivation,” so he was released.

Months later, in November 2019, the plenary of the Criminal Chamber of the Court finally agreed to his extradition, but Carvajal had already disappeared.

Still on the run, his lawyers appealed to the Supreme Court the agreement reached by the Council of Ministers on March 3 to execute the extradition after it was authorized by the National High Court, and they called for the precautionary suspension of the order alleging that the allegations were not true and that the sole purpose of the United States is to torture to obtain information about Venezuela.

Carvajal was head of the Direction of Military Counterintelligence of Venezuela during eight years, in the governments of Hugo Chávez and Nicholas Maduro, and the United States accuses to him of drug trafficking, bleaching of capital i collaboration with the FARC to introduce drugs into American territory. Thanks to his influential role in the criminal structure of the Venezuelan dictatorship, he is presumed to have very sensitive information about both the Chavista dictator and the complex network of corruption linked to drug trafficking.

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