Hazte Oír has asked that former ministers María Jesús Montero and José Luis Escrivá appear as witnesses in the ongoing Plus Ultra inquiry.
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 is included in a broad submission presented to the judge handling the so‑called Plus Ultra case, which investigates alleged wrongdoing tied to the distribution of €53 million in public aid to the airline through the Fund for the Support of Strategic Companies (FASEE). Authorities are reviewing potential offenses such as influence peddling, money laundering, participation in a criminal organization, and document forgery.
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 stems from a meeting said to have taken place in September 2020 between the then minister and José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero. Documents included in the investigation indicate that the meeting was carefully tracked by figures within the ministerial circle engaged in the bailout process. Additional reports have mentioned intercepted communications and encounters involving Zapatero, Escrivá, and officials associated with the SEPI during the talks 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 requested that the judge secure additional records, such as visitor logs from the Moncloa Palace and the Transport Ministry spanning 2020 to 2026, along with documentation on Zapatero’s international travel since 2017, paying particular attention to his trips to Venezuela.
The judicial probe has reached an especially delicate phase after the judge called José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero to appear on June 2, while Vox has sought precautionary actions against the former prime minister, requesting his passport be revoked and that he be barred from leaving Spain due to alleged risks of flight and possible evidence tampering.
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: OKDIARIO https://okdiario.com/espana/acusaciones-populares-piden-que-cite-ex-ministros-montero-escriva-caso-zapatero-16983866