Defendants at a trial in Palma, Mallorca for police corruption

The six defendants, including José Antonio Navarro, in court. | Alejandro Sepúlveda

Andrew EdePalma17/11/2023 17:43
TW
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José Antonio Navarro, a former chief of Calvia police, has been acquitted of bribery, the Prosecutor's Office having called for a six-year sentence. Three other defendants have also been acquitted, including the former chief of the Marratxi police, Antonio Ledesma. Two more defendants, members of the Calvia police canine unit, were acquitted of separate charges.

Navarro was arrested in 2014 when he was the chief of police. He was subsequently held in custody for a time, his arrest and that of others having been a step along the way to what evolved into the 'Cursach case' - the owner of BCM, Bartolomé Cursach.

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Navarro and Ledesma had run a form of agency for seven years that was in charge of staff for certain nightlife businesses. The Provincial Court has concluded that there was no evidence that they had received money from two businessmen for reasons other than this business. It was "reprehensible" that the chief of the Calvia police had been paid for working on behalf of companies that operated establishments on C. Punta Ballena in Magalluf, but that wasn't a crime.

The court has also dismissed a charge that relied on the testimonies of two witnesses, one of whom is now under investigation for lying.

On another charge - that Navarro had made sanctioning files disappear in order to benefit certain businesses - the court has ruled there was no crime as he could not have revoked sanctions already initiated by police complaints and which were being handled by another town hall department.