• Courts Justice delays the entry into prison of Griñán, sentenced to six years by the ERE
  • Corruption Read all the information about the ERE

The former president of the Junta de Andalucía and the PSOE José Antonio Griñán manages to avoid prison again, at least for now. The Court of Seville has allowed him to remain free while he receives radiotherapy sessions against prostate cancer that was diagnosed just when he was about to enter prison.

Griñán, 76, was sentenced to six years in prison for the biggest corruption scandal in the history of Spain: the ERE fraud, a plundering of almost 680 million euros of public money. The rest of the former senior officials of the Junta sentenced to prison terms for this case have been deprived of liberty since the beginning of the year, but the former president of the Andalusian Government has managed to avoid imprisonment for the disease he suffers.

In a ruling notified this Thursday, the First Section of the Audience of Seville agrees: "You are waiting for the defense of the prisoner José Antonio Griñán Martínez to communicate to this Court that the radiotherapy sessions have concluded."

A few days ago, the Court asked Griñán to provide "all the medical reports" on the prostate cancer he suffers from to decide on his entry into prison. With these evaluations on his health, the First Section intends that the former president undergo a new medical examination of the forensic of the Institute of Legal Medicine (IML) of Seville. This recognition is delayed, therefore, until the end of the radiotherapy sessions.

The IML already issued a report at the beginning of January, at the request of the Hearing. As EL MUNDO advanced, the coroner endorsed the theses of Griñán's defense and considered that it was not "convenient" to incarcerate him, given his state of health and the treatment he is undergoing to fight cancer.

In her report, the coroner concluded "the inconvenience of his admission to a penitentiary until the remission is confirmed" of the tumor by the doctors who attend to the former president.

Given this resolution, the Court asked the prison health services on January 13 to inform about the possibility of treatment in that center of the disease alleged by Griñán. The answer was different from that of the forensic of the IML and the prison of Seville assured that it is "possible" the treatment of the cancer suffered by the former president in prison.

The last ruling of the Court implies that the decision on the entry into prison of Griñán will be taken when the radiotherapy sessions end. In addition to Griñán there is another former senior official of the Board sentenced to prison for the ERE who is also free due to the illness he suffers. This is the former Deputy Minister of Employment Agustín Barberá, sentenced to seven years in prison.

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  • José Antonio Griñán
  • THE WORLD
  • Seville
  • PSOE
  • Corruption
  • Articles Silvia Moreno
  • Case of the ERE