The wait was at its maximum at the gates of the Soto del Real prison, in the north of the Community of Madrid. Since Wednesday morning, around a hundred journalists have been waiting for the release of the former PSOE organizational secretary, Santos Cerdán. But it was only after a quarter past seven in the afternoon that the former socialist leader crossed the corridor that connects the prison with the access building, and then crossed the prison doors and approached the microphones and cameras. “The first thing I want to say is that many lies are told and that there is a lot of manipulation regarding the interpretation made of the two complaints against me,” he assured. “I trust that the truth will prevail and that in the end, like that truth, justice will be served,” he said calmly.
The former Organization Secretary of the PSOE was the only one imprisoned for the corrupt conspiracy, which allegedly profited from the manipulation of public works contracts, and which had its epicenter during the time of José Luis Ábalos at the Ministry of Transport. He had been in prison since June 30, and since then his lawyers have repeatedly called for his release, believing that he suffered “a comparative crime” compared to the rest of those investigated by the Supreme Court in this case, including Ábalos and his former advisor, Koldo García.
Cerdán thanked his “family” and “all his lifelong friends” who have “supported” him and who “continue to do so”. He also had words of gratitude for “the work” of his lawyers, “which was also fundamental”. None of his relatives went to Soto del Real to receive Cerdán. Nor his wife, Francisca Muñoz, Paquineither his daughter nor his sister, María Belén Cerdán, were present at the liberation of the former socialist leader.
Cerdán assured journalists that “in the next few days” he will speak “with everyone” and was always accompanied by his lawyer, Jacobo Teijelo, with whom he left the Madrid prison in a vehicle driven by the lawyer, who had already been in the facilities in the morning for an hour and a quarter. After that visit, in which Teijelo made no statement, he left the area to return later to pick up the former socialist leader in the visitors’ car park.
