• Education: Lessons from the 'Cifuentes case': university more controlled but dependent on political power

  • Judgment. Cifuentes, on the bench: "The certificate of the Master's Final Project is a document that I do not ask for and, curiously, the University sends me"

  • Trial: The teacher who falsified the minutes of the Master's case declares that she did so under pressure

The former Madrid Minister of Education

Rafael Van Grieken

has acknowledged this Monday before the court that judges the

Master's case

that he "repeatedly" telephoned the rector of the Rey Juan Carlos University (URJC),

Javier Ramos

, to ask for the documentation that exonerated Cristina Cifuentes of irregularities in obtaining the graduate degree.

Van Grieken has been one of the many witnesses to testify on the third day of the trial at the Provincial Court of Madrid.

To questions from the private prosecution, he explained that on the day the irregularities were published in the press, he spoke with the rector in the morning, who sent him "a message of tranquility."

"He told me that he had spoken with the teachers, gathered some information, and that it seemed that everything was regular, that it was absolutely normal. I was calm and devoted myself to what I had reviewed that day."

Although he was "very calm", the first time he was asked about his calls to the rector, the former councilor referred only to a conversation in the morning.

To cross-examine the accusation brought by the university itself, the counselor spoke of two calls, the one in the morning and another prior to the press conference that the rector was going to give.

The third time he turned to it - "How many times do I call you?" - he ended up saying, after several circumlocations, that he called him "repeatedly."

The surprise of the Prosecutor's Office

The witness explained that what he wanted with so many calls was for the university to provide him with the documents on which the rector had relied to say at the press conference that everything was correct.

"For us it was very important to collect documentation that would support the position of the regional government," he added.

The Prosecutor's Office has been surprised that the counselor intervened in a specific case of a title.

"The dialogue with the universities was ours. It was a matter that affected the regional government. It called into question the behavior of public universities and it was my responsibility to investigate what was being disseminated," Van Grieken responded.

On Monday's session, the university official

Amalia Calonge

has also testified as a witness

, who has declared that professor

Pablo Chico

called him to tell him that he should review two notes from Cifuentes.

One, that of his subject, to put a 7.5 where he previously said he had not been presented.

And also indicate that he had passed the Master's Thesis.

As for giving her indications of a job that was not the teacher's competence, the witness said that she was not surprised.

The professor explained that he had discussed it with the person in charge of the master's degree and that professors sometimes "act like that".

"That lady has been untrue"

When it was his turn to testify, the professor denied it.

Indeed, to questions from the official, who called him by phone, he verified that Cifuentes had a 7.5 grade, despite the fact that it did not appear as presented.

But that was not an order to change the note, he said.

And as for the final work, he did not say a word about it, as is clear from the fact that there was no mention of it in the emails.

"It was materially impossible, I have never been involved in any master's thesis", he declared, adding: "It is evident that this lady has been untrue."

Also on the list of witnesses was the then vice-rector for Planning and Strategy, present at a meeting of charges at the university on the morning of 2018 in which

eldiario.es

published doubts about the title of Cifuentes.

Andrés Martínez Fernández

has stated that when he entered the meeting, he saw Cifuentes' documentation.

And that although those directly responsible for the degree were giving reasonable explanations, some things surprised him.

The defense of Cifuentes

"It is normal that there are changes of note, but the normal thing is that it is done two days later, and this happened two years later. It is also normal that there is a modification, but there must have been 10 or so there," he said.

In his turn to question, the defense of Cifuentes has noticed that the vice-rector had told the director of the master, the late

Enrique Álvarez Conde

, that it would be good to clarify things against with the act of having defended the master's final project .

And that he had told him "before" the press conference in which it was publicly maintained that it existed.

That would be consistent with Cifuentes' thesis that when the scandal broke out, she did not ask the university for that certificate, which was falsified.

It must have been a third party, for example the deceased.

According to the criteria of The Trust Project

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  • Justice

  • Madrid's community

EducationLessons from the 'Cifuentes case': university more controlled but dependent on political power

CourtsCristina Cifuentes faces three years in prison for the 'Master's case'

SpainCristina Cifuentes, on the bench: "The certificate of the Master's Final Project is a document that I do not ask for and curiously the University sends me"

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