The judge of the National Court José Luis Calama has accepted the request of the Minister of the Presidency, Félix Bolaños, to testify as a written witness in the case in which the infection of the cell phones of the President of the Government, Pedro Sánchez, and of three ministers with the Pegasus computer tool but he has suggested doing it by videoconference to ensure the good outcome of the case and its processing in terms of agility and usefulness.
In an order, the head of the central court of instruction 4 states that an official letter has been received from the Undersecretariat, General Technical Secretariat, Secretariat of the Government, attaching a letter from the Minister of the Presidency, Relations with the Courts and Democratic Memory.
The minister is summoned to give a statement, as a witness, on July 5 at 9:00 a.m.
The judge accepts the written statement in accordance with the provisions of article 421.2 1 of the Law of Criminal Procedure, which states that the president and the other members of the Government "are exempt from attending the summons of the Judge, but not from testifying, being able to inform in writing about the facts of which they are aware by reason of their position.
Notwithstanding the foregoing, says Calama, the witness is suggested to practice bidirectional and in real time of the aforementioned investigative diligence "to ensure the good outcome of the case and its processing in terms of agility and usefulness, with a visual interaction, auditory, and verbal with the witness, and in unity of act”.
To this end, the resolution continues, it is appropriate to assess holding the testimonial statement via videoconference, offering the minister to testify through said means, if he sees fit, indicating the dates and times in which said statement could be carried out. form, without altering the functions inherent to his position, because as the Supreme Court recalls (ATS 808/2021 and STS 161/2015), "the criminal process has not been able to avoid the advancement of new technologies, and the use of the system of videoconference for the practice of procedural acts of unquestionable probative relevance, is already part of the habitual practice of the Courts of Justice”.
