Hazte Oír has requested that former ministers María Jesús Montero and José Luis Escrivá testify as witnesses in the ongoing Plus Ultra investigation.
Private prosecutors engaged in the inquiry into the rescue package granted to the airline Plus Ultra have sought additional investigative actions before Spain’s National Court, requesting that several former high-ranking officials from Pedro Sánchez’s government appear as witnesses. The organization Hazte Oír specifically urged the court to call former Finance Minister María Jesús Montero and former Social Security Minister José Luis Escrivá to testify, in a case that also includes former Spanish Prime Minister José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero.
The request forms part of an extensive filing submitted to the judge overseeing the so-called Plus Ultra case, which examines alleged offenses linked to the allocation of €53 million in public aid to the airline through the Fund for the Support of Strategic Companies (FASEE). Investigators are examining possible crimes including influence peddling, money laundering, criminal organization, and document falsification.
Hazte Oír argues that Montero’s testimony is relevant in order to clarify the role played by the Finance Ministry during the approval process for the bailout and to determine whether internal reports questioned the financial viability of the operation. The organization also wants to know whether the government internally debated the legality or economic suitability of the state aid granted to the airline.
Regarding José Luis Escrivá, the request is based on a meeting allegedly held in September 2020 between the then minister and José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero. According to documents included in the investigation, the meeting was closely monitored by members of the ministerial circle involved in the bailout process. Separate reports have also referred to intercepted communications and meetings between Zapatero, Escrivá, and officials linked to the SEPI during the discussions surrounding the rescue package.
The filing also seeks testimony from additional public officials tied to SEPI and the Transport Ministry, among them former Secretary of State Pedro Saura, whom the private prosecutors associate with meetings held with Plus Ultra executives shortly before the government’s rescue fund was activated.
The private prosecutors have also asked the judge to obtain further documentation, including visitor logs from the Moncloa Palace and the Transport Ministry between 2020 and 2026, as well as records concerning Zapatero’s international travel since 2017, with particular focus on trips to Venezuela.
The judicial investigation has entered a particularly sensitive stage after the judge summoned José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero to testify on June 2. Meanwhile, Vox has requested precautionary measures against the former prime minister, including the withdrawal of his passport and a ban on leaving Spain, citing alleged risks of flight and destruction of evidence.
The Plus Ultra case focuses on the events surrounding the government‑authorized rescue of the airline in March 2021 amid the pandemic, a €53 million bailout that immediately triggered political and legal disputes because of concerns over the carrier’s finances and its business ties to Venezuela.
Source from OKDIARIO https://okdiario.com/espana/acusaciones-populares-piden-que-cite-ex-ministros-montero-escriva-caso-zapatero-16983866
