Calama rejects public-funds claim over Zapatero’s jewels

Audiencia Nacional judge José Luis Calama has refused to probe former prime minister José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero for alleged misuse of public funds over jewels found in his office.

Zapatero says the pieces were a personal gift from Saudi king Abdullah bin Abdulaziz Al-Saud. He says he received them during an official visit to Madrid in June 2007, while he was prime minister.

Anti-corruption prosecutors said the jewels should have gone to Spain’s national heritage body if that account were true. They said keeping them could be embezzlement. The judge rejected that view.

No law made the gift state property

Calama said no law in 2007 made gifts to senior officials part of state property at once. He said the key legal duty came later, under a 2013 transparency law.

That law barred senior officials from taking gifts beyond normal social custom. It also said gifts of public value should become part of the relevant authority’s assets.

A good governance code had been approved in 2005. Calama said it was an ethical guide, not a rule with enough legal force to decide who owned the pieces.

The judge said the prosecution’s case would stretch the offence beyond what the law then allowed. He added that keeping the jewels could draw moral or political criticism. Even so, he said they were not state property for this offence.

His ruling means the public-funds claim will not be added. It does not decide the other claims in the case.

Police will trace the mark

Calama said he did not find Zapatero’s account of the Saudi gift credible. He told police to trace the mark on the jewels, with help from Interpol if needed.

A report said the mark was not usual in Arab or European countries. The defence asked the judge to seek proof from Saudi Arabia. He refused, and the defence has appealed.

Police found the pieces in a safe in Zapatero’s office during a search in May. He remains under probe over alleged smuggling and tax fraud linked to them.

In a separate ruling, Calama paused tax checks into Zapatero, his wife, his daughters, an unnamed businessman and linked firms. The tax office said its work had stalled because it did not get the papers it sought. Those involved said handing them over could harm their right to defend themselves in court.

The judge had first let the tax checks run beside the court case. He changed his view after a new note from the tax office. The checks will stay paused while the criminal probe goes on.

That wider case concerns alleged influence peddling tied to the state rescue of airline Plus Ultra. The claims remain allegations, and the probe is still open.

Sources: La Vanguardia, El Español, elDiario.es and Diario de Cádiz.