“Helpless? That’s what I ask myself. Because I am here? I have not committed anything, just being mayor of Arona “he replied Jose Julian Mena when the lawyer of the PSOE He insisted that he had not complied with the requirements of his party to present allegations to the file of expulsion of militancy carried out a year ago. And it is precisely the “defenselessness” the argument that Mena’s lawyer used to propose to the judge the nullity of the expulsion process, something that the Public Prosecutor’s Office agreed with. The trial, held today for three hours in the Court of First Instance number 1 of Arona, was seen for sentence.
The trial took place after in March that court upheld the precautionary measures requested by the mayor and suspended the expulsion agreements that the federal executive and the PSOE’s ethics and guarantees committee had adopted.
The expulsion of Mena and of the Urban Planning councilor Luis García was ratified in December of last year after the mayor dismissed the mayor for alleged irregularities and a division into two of the government group was originated, so that of the 14 councilors of the PSOE seven supported each party.
At the trial, the Public Prosecutor insisted that if there was indiscipline on the part of José Julián Mena, that question should have been specified in the file, and that when it is alleged that people outside the municipal corporation had a negative influence, his name should also be given, as well. as the cases and how it influenced. “Everything that is not in the file does not exist, and all that is not,” he said.
The lawyer who represented the PSOE indicated that the case file had perfect knowledge that he could file an appeal but did not do so, and pointed out that the email in which the expulsion was communicated was received on October 7 and had five days to deadline to respond and did not do so until November. Therefore, he argued that the mayor has not suffered defenselessness.
Mena’s defense highlighted that in the process there have been formal defects when communicating the expulsion by means of an email that, in addition, the affected person read seven days after it was sent, instead of doing it through a burofax as was done. in previous communications. In addition, he alleged as a defect such that the reasons for the expulsion are not clarified in the record.
He also stressed that it is striking that the PSOE ethics and guarantees committee says that a militant cannot be sanctioned for the actions of other people, and that this same body speaks that it is not constitutional to order the delivery of the act of councilor and the Mena may be punished for it.
As witnesses of the PSOE they declared their regional secretary of Organization, Jorge González; the insular secretary of Organization, Josefa Mesa, and the councilors Dácil León and Sebastián Roque, who in January of this year were dismissed by José Julián Mena, considering that they acted with a lack of loyalty.
The mayor declared that he has not caused the rupture and asserted that at all times he has tried not to put the governance of the municipality at stake. He reiterated that Luis García was dismissed as Town Planning councilor because there were possibly irregular actions that he could not allow and because criminal investigations were opened.
Jorge González said, by videoconference, that when he learned of the breakdown of the municipal Socialist group in Arona, he spoke by phone with the mayor to tell him that the party leadership came to the conclusion that serious offenses had been committed and could not continue like this.
Josefa Mesa declared that it should be the mayor who would redirect the situation and that is why he was given alternatives and advice. But the situation worsened and in July 2020 the island, regional and national directorates acted jointly in the face of the seriousness of the situation, and acknowledged, like the rest of the witnesses, that no minutes were taken of the meetings with all those involved. , except for the interviews with the councilors of the envoy of the Federal executive, Santos Cerdán.
Dácil León, who at that time was councilor for Economic Promotion and Employment, acknowledged that the problems began in 2019 due to interference from people outside the municipal government group, and affirmed that there were no meetings of the Socialist councilors to plan the work. He also stated that Luis García brought together the council to hear a recordings where “one could talk about an urban plot” in the City Hall, something that “he had already heard on the street.” Remarking that “the mayor ignored it and all he did was dismiss Luis García.” In the same vein, Juan Sebastián Roque, former Sports Councilor, stressed that the problems began two years ago due to external interventions, something that he attributed to the advisor Nicolás Jorge, who, in his opinion, humiliated fellow party members, in addition to the lawyer Felipe Campos, “who was almost daily at City Hall,” said Roque.
