The Supreme Court has announced a six-month extension of the investigation into Santos Cerdán, the former Secretary of Organisation for the Spanish Socialist Workers’ Party, due to the considerable amount of material that needs to be examined. This decision comes following Cerdán’s provisional imprisonment, which his defence team is challenging in the Constitutional Court, arguing that his fundamental rights have been infringed upon.

Cerdán’s lawyers assert that his rights to liberty, moral integrity, and the presumption of innocence have been compromised. They argue that the Supreme Court’s decision to impose provisional imprisonment was based on an unsubstantiated risk of evidence destruction, which they firmly contest. They emphasise that such risks need to be concrete and well-founded, which they believe is not the case for Cerdán.

In their appeal, they also highlight the significance of the rights at stake and note the lack of any legitimate constitutional basis for his continued imprisonment. Notably, they draw comparisons to former Transport Minister José Luis Ábalos, who does not face imprisonment despite his influential position, contrasting this with Cerdán’s willingness to relinquish his parliamentary seat to assist the investigation.

The investigation, originally set to conclude soon, will now continue until the eighth of March, twenty twenty-six, allowing judicial authorities to thoroughly review the substantial material uncovered during phone taps and home searches related to the case. The Supreme Court suggests that further extensions may be granted if the case remains unresolved at the end of this extension.