Our friend Juan Francisco Sierra (ex-mayor of Ohanes who is charged with corruption and fiscal coercion) has been released without bail by the Judge pending his trial.

In a declaration to the press, his lawyer claimed that the video had been manipulated (he refused specifics, stating that that was for the court), and furthermore stated that his client is the injured party who has been only ever worked hard and honestly for his village, but has been smeared by a dirty tricks campaign. “Justice”, he said, “has my absolute collaboration, for all will turn out OK and and the defamations made against me in the last few weeks shall be quashed”.

Optimistic I feel, but no point going into a long court case feeling depressed.

The main case has yet to be set, but meanwhile the P.P. is making full use of this corruption case to offset their own problems; the secretary general of P.P. in Andalucia (Antonio Sanz) proposed that the PSOE, if they have nothing to hide in this case, accept the creation of an investigatory committee to exercise “democratic hygiene”. And Juan José Matarí, P.P. diputado for Almería, went even further, hinting that if JuanFran had been a P.P. mayor the party’s actions would have been “harsher”. (Old JuanFran was allowed to resign from PSOE with honour intact shortly before the whatsit hit the fan).