The judge in the ‘Mediator case’ has agreed to keep Civil Guard general Francisco Espinosa in prison to “guarantee access to certain means of evidence that could be harmed” if his release were approved.

In an order this Thursday, the head of the Investigating Court Number 4, Ángeles Lorenzo-Cáceres, dismissed the petition of Espinosa’s defense, which requested that he be granted provisional release.

The magistrate in this case, who is investigating a plot of fraud and bribes to businessmen in exchange for favors, as well as extortion of others, denies this claim, assessing “the nature of the alleged crime committed, the penalty that could correspond to it, the circumstances of the fact and background of the accused”. In the case, the former socialist deputy Juan Bernardo Fuentes, considered the ringleader of the plot, his nephew Taishet Fuentes and the mediator, Marco Antonio Navarro Tacoronte, are also being investigated.

The instructor seeks with this decision “to guarantee the effectiveness of the procedural investigation and the availability of the accused to judicial appeals.” In addition, she recalls that this measure was agreed “with the purpose of guaranteeing access to certain means of evidence that could be harmed in the event that it had not been adopted” it.

“This is clear even from the police reports presented by the Internal Affairs Unit of the Civil Guard. Consistent with this, the police unit has carried out an enormous action aimed at obtaining the evidence that justified the request that today the Public Ministry ratifies this report,” explains the judge.

The Prosecutor’s Office sees a “real risk of destruction” of evidence
Specifically, the magistrate refers to the brief presented by the Prosecutor’s Office in which she opposed her release. The Public Prosecutor, in particular, requested provisional detention “with a purely instrumental purpose and for the time strictly necessary considering that there is a real risk of destruction of sources of evidence.”

In the order of February 16, by which she agreed to send Espinosa to prison, the judge assured that, if she remained free, “it could frustrate the police investigation”, verifying in turn payments of the plot and noting that more than 60,000 euros at his address of “illegal origin”.

The instructor maintains that Espinosa would have made “use of the personal relationships that he would have with relevant people from the public and business sectors in the Canary Islands” and that his participation in the criminal plot was “essential” because of those contacts and because of “the ability to transmit confidence to the different businessmen in the achievement of their illicit purposes”.

Sources say that meetings in Congress with businessmen are “usual” and Espinosa that he received payments
Sources say that meetings in Congress with businessmen are “usual” and Espinosa that he received payments
In the statement he made before the judge on February 16, to which RTVE has had access, the general acknowledged that he had received payments from businessmen for hotels or flights and that he was recruited by Navarro Tacoronte to enlarge his “fabric of spider” with more businessmen.

Legal sources have confirmed to Europa Press that the Court has agreed to the formation of three different separate pieces, one of which is currently under summary secrecy.

The Court of Auditors dismissed the appeal with which they intended to halve that amount, which is added to the 4.9 million that they had to repay for the public money diverted from the Generalitat
The former president of the Generalitat Artur Mas, his then Presidency counselor and spokesman, Francesc Homs, and eight other former senior officials of the Catalan Executive will finally have to pay one million euros in interest for the 4.9 million euros of public money that they diverted to finance the illegal consultation that took place on November 9, 2014, known as 9-N. The Court of Accounts (Tcu) has dismissed the appeal led by Homs, with which he and other convicts have tried to halve the amount to be paid for interest.

It was the prelude, as a test, to the referendum and subsequent declaration of independence that took place on October 1, 2017, already with Carles Puigdemont as president of the Generalitat.

For 9-N, Artur Mas, Francesc Homs, the then Vice President and Minister of the Interior of the Catalan Executive, Joana Ortega, as well as the person in charge of the Ministry of Education, Irene Rigau, were prosecuted and sentenced in the Court of Accounts. and six other senior officials of the Generalitat.

Diverted public funds
It was determined that they had illegally diverted 4.9 million euros for the organization and holding of that sovereignist consultation. And, the Court of Accounts estimated interest at one million euros, calculated by the time elapsed since the diversion of public money occurred and until the culprits repaid it to the Generalitat.

Those sentenced have been trying for some time, without success, for those interests that they must face in solidarity to be reduced by half. Homs has led the strategy, arguing that the interest meter should have stopped when the defendants attended the preventive consignment of funds that the court required of them, something that occurred between November 2017 and July 2019.

This argument from Homs was already rejected months ago, when the TCu dismissed the appeal that it filed on July 28, 2022. Faced with the setback, it tried again with this appeal, which this Monday was resolved by the Chamber of Justice of the Court of Auditors, which has once again dismissed the arguments of Homs and the other convicts who have adhered to this strategy.

Thus, the liquidation of interest that was carried out against them by ordering procedure of October 27, 2021 is reconfirmed. In it, in addition to the 4.9 million that they had to return to the Generalitat, the interest was estimated at around of one million euros, compared to less than 600,000 euros to which the condemned aspired.

Felipe VI has made an appeal before the National Assembly Angolaña to “unite efforts to defend the basic principles of international law.” He thus referred to “Russian aggression against Ukraine, which is producing a serious international impact.”

Before the 250 Angolan deputies, Felipe VI stressed that “today more than ever friendly countries have to preserve a fair international order based on rules that has as its cornerstone respect for national sovereignty and territorial integrity of all states.”

In Africa, the impact of war is evident in the “food crisis” form that “has only aggravated the difficult humanitarian situation that many Africa countries are already experiencing due to one of the worst droughts of the last decades.”

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The King seals the strategic alliance with Angola: “Because of its stability, resources and good economic perspectives”
Esteban Villarejo
Advocates the use and learning of Spanish and Portuguese as “Mutual Understanding Languages”

In his third speech before a general assembly -the two previous ones were in France and Portugal -the king also influenced the “land of opportunities” in which Angola has become: “Let me point out that Spain, both from the public and private sector , is prepared to contribute to the economic growth of the country; A productive growth that generates jobs for Angolaña youth. We have very competitive companies in sectors that are interested in promoting, such as agro-industry, infrastructure and sanitation, renewable energies, engineering and tourism ».

The King made these words after presiding over, together with President Joao Lourenço, a Hispanic-Angoleño business forum.

Upon arrival at the National Assembly, Don Felipe and Doña Letizia were received by an Angolaño folklore group. Dentreo received an ovation at their entry into the hemicycle, with imposing dome, and another after being officially presented.

Don Felipe also sealed the Ibero -American bond of Angola, Portuguese speech country. This was mentioned as “the great African -American country with clear affinities with that great space for dialogue and cooperation that is Latin America.”
Don Felipe initiated and concluded his speech in Portuguese … “Graças also important two nosos parliaments, she will continue to approve Switful Amizade and cooperate Bem-these hair two dosos povos and nações.”

These were the last words of Felipe VI in the National Assembly Angolaña before going to the Presidential Palace to say goodbye to President João Lourenço and then go to the airport.

Thus concludes the first state trip of the kings Felipe VI and Letizia to Angola, the first sub -Saharan country that receives this high distinction, symbol of the new impulse of the relations that both countries want to have.

“Cada escena en una película debe tocar tu cabeza, tu corazón… o debajo del cinturón”, dice el director Dilip Gulati, explicando por qué hace las películas que hace en una nueva docuserie sobre las “películas B” de Bollywood.

A menudo despreciados como los primos poco sofisticados de Bollywood, las películas pulp indias se hicieron con presupuestos ínfimos y plazos increíblemente cortos. Fueron dirigidos por artistas en gran parte desconocidos y marcados por tramas delgadas como una oblea, diálogos cursis, estética llamativa y sexo.

Miles acudieron a ver estas películas en su apogeo en la década de 1990, pero en 2004, la industria se había esfumado.

Una nueva serie documental de seis partes sobre Amazon Prime, Cinema Marte Dum Tak (Películas hasta el fin de los tiempos), está destacando estas películas; su espíritu y actores clave; las razones de su existencia y eventual desaparición.

Los ex actores de teatro popular de la India luchan por sobrevivir
Cuatro directores cuyas películas fueron un éxito – Vinod Talwar, J Neelam, Kishen Shah y Dilip Gulati – reciben un presupuesto mínimo, un cronograma ajustado y se les pide que dirijan una película con su estilo característico.

Los directores, que regresan a su oficio después de décadas, se ponen manos a la obra de inmediato, reuniendo a viejos amigos y colaboradores. A medida que el programa sigue a estos directores, la audiencia se transporta a los años 90.

El público puede ver fragmentos de sus películas antiguas, que tenían títulos cursis como Maut ke peeche maut (Muerte después de la muerte), Kunwari chudail (Bruja virgen) y Main hoon kuwanri dulhan (Soy una novia virgen).
Estas películas se filmarían en un solo escenario y los directores se duplicarían como directores de arte, diseñadores de vestuario y, a veces, incluso actores. Las películas a menudo se renombraban con títulos más obscenos para atraer audiencias más grandes y las tramas se alteraban si el director tenía una idea genial.

A veces, las estrellas de Bollywood se involucraban en algunas escenas y se les pagaba en efectivo por cada día de trabajo. Kanti Shah, quien fue un prolífico creador de películas B y es parte de la serie, habla sobre cómo ha presentado a Govinda, Mithun Chakraborty y Dharmendra en sus películas.

Nada era demasiado tabú, demasiado salvaje o demasiado cursi para encontrar espacio en estas películas. Ya fuera una bandida dominatriz que reclutaba masajistas masculinos en su pandilla o un fantasma que cambiaba de género teniendo sexo con sirvientas, todo estaba normal.

El rostro cambiante del teatro popular indio
Aseem Chandaver, un investigador de cine, recuerda una película llamada Khooni Dracula (Killer Dracula) donde un vampiro camina por un barrio pobre y tiene sexo con una mujer bañándose al aire libre.

“En una película convencional, incluso si el fantasma estuviera teniendo sexo con la gente, estaría en algún lugar exclusivo o, al menos, en una bañera”, reflexiona. “Pero estos directores conocían las realidades de su audiencia y no rehuyeron mostrarlas en la pantalla”.

Las salas de cine que mostraban estas películas estaban tan llenas que se tuvieron que agregar sillas adicionales para acomodar a las personas. La audiencia era en gran parte la clase trabajadora de la India (conductores de taxis y tuk-tuk, vendedores ambulantes de alimentos, trabajadores) que residían en pueblos pequeños lejanos y trabajaban en trabajos agotadores que a menudo pagan menos del salario mínimo.

Para ellos, estas películas ofrecieron una fuente de escape de su sombría vida cotidiana. Durante un par de horas, en una sala de cine con poca luz, podían perderse en una película que los excitaba y emocionaba.

La serie también captura el estigma y la lucha que enfrentaron las personas que trabajaron en ellas debido a su asociación con estas “películas de terror de bajo presupuesto”. Les resultó difícil encontrar trabajo en películas convencionales o papeles de bolsa que se consideraran más serios. Las películas también tuvieron problemas con la junta de censura.

Los distribuidores comenzaron a presionar por escenas más subidas de tono, atribuyéndolo a la demanda de la audiencia. Pero debido a que los censores no los aprobaron, los directores los filmaron por separado e insertaron estos “fragmentos” en la película durante la proyección.

Las cosas llegaron a un punto crítico cuando un proyeccionista insertó una escena de sexo en una secuencia que involucraba a hermanos. Esto creó furor y la policía comenzó a tomar medidas enérgicas contra estas películas. Para 2004, la industria de las películas de serie B casi se había extinguido, robándoles a cientos de sus medios de subsistencia.

Aunque esta “edad de oro de las películas B” ha terminado, su legado sigue vivo a través de comunidades de fans, memes, parodias y chistes.

También han inspirado el arte de los carteles y sus títulos obscenos a menudo se abren camino en juegos de charadas tontos. Vibhushan Subba, un estudioso del cine, dice que estas películas se prestan a la cultura del fandom debido a su “ingenio extravagante, calidad transgresora y estética exagerada”.

“Estas películas se hicieron un hueco, aunque sea pequeño, en la cultura popular”, dice Subba.

The keys to the murder of Valentina Trespalacios and the arrest of John Poulos5:12

(CNN Spanish) –– On her social networks, Valentina Trespalacios constantly posted photos and stories about two things: her rising success on the electronic music scene at nightclubs and festivals, and her romantic relationship with the American John Poulos. According to his mother, Laura Hidalgo, the DJ would have met him at the end of 2021 on the internet.  Watch Or Downoad

“Already on January 21, she had moved in with John Poulos, who is American and had been in a relationship with my daughter for almost a year. He wanted to come live with her to start a family. And the last time I spoke to her , on Saturday, I was with him, in the apartment in the north of the city. I don’t know the address or anything because they just moved. They, that is, Valentina and Mr. John Poulos, met on the internet, I think on Instagram, in December 2021. But she did not want a stable relationship,” Hidalgo said through lawyer Miguel del Río, who represents the family in the case of the Colombian Prosecutor’s Office against the now detained Poulos, the main suspect in the murder of his girlfriend in events that occurred in the early hours of Sunday, January 22.

• The murder of Valentina Trespalacios, a 23-year-old electronic music DJ, shocks Colombia

That day, a recyclerfound the body of a woman inside a suitcase at the bottom of a container of garbage in the southwest of Bogotá. Hours later, the authorities confirmed that the body was that of Valentina Trespalacios. From that moment, her family began to live a real nightmare, very different from what they thought was the beginning of a new life for the DJ with her boyfriend.

Poulos arrived in Bogotá on Friday, January 20, with the intention, according to Valentina’s mother, of making a home with the young woman. To that end, he rented an apartment in the north of the city. Up to there, according to what prosecutor Daniel Gómez Acuña stated at the hearing, the couple arrived that same night that the alleged homicide occurred in circumstances that are still under investigation.

John Poulos was arrested in Panama when he intended to travel to Istanbul, the National Police reported after receiving an alert from Interpol. “We started an investigation process with more than 14 men who are experts in criminal investigation and intelligence. More than 300 hours of videos found in the search were analyzed, as a result of the methodological work that was done in coordination with the Office of the Attorney General of the Nation,” he said. Brigadier General Carlos Fernando Triana, commander of the Bogotá Police.

• John Poulos, accused of murdering DJ Valentina Trespalacios, rejected the charges of homicide and femicide charged by the Prosecutor’s Office

Forensic examinations by the Institute of Legal Medicine, the official forensic body attached to the Prosecutor’s Office, revealed that the young woman would have died of mechanical asphyxiation and that her body showed signs of having been subjected to force before she died.

“She presented marked congestion and facial edema, as well as signs of multiple blunt force trauma, scattered throughout the forearms and sacral region. In the same way, bruises were observed on the labial mucosa and cheeks”, according to the prosecutor Daniel Gómez when reading parts of the report at the hearing to legalize Poulos’s capture.

“She had a problem with him in December. And it is that she had a DJ event, because she played music in discos. And John was abroad and he told her that he had hired a private investigator to be there. pending her. The problem between them was a problem of jealousy or something like that. He told him if he was crazy or what was wrong with him and that’s why he stopped talking to him. Then he spoke so that he would forgive him and come back, “said the mother of Trespalacios, through your attorney at the hearing.

During the indictment of the Prosecutor’s Office,the suspect did not accept the charges for aggravated femicide and concealment of evidence. His lawyer, Martín Alberto Riascos, said in the courtroom of the 59th criminal court in Bogotá that there were irregularities during his capture in Panama and that he was not allowed to speak with Poulos before beginning the judicial proceeding last Thursday.

Colombia is moved by the murder of DJ Valentina Trespalacios0:48

“My only concern is that we just met in this room, you know, shortly before it all started. So I haven’t had time to ask him any questions. Also, he (the lawyer) doesn’t speak English, but he has someone from his team that does speak English. So I’m talking to you now and he doesn’t understand what I’m saying. That’s a big problem,” Poulos said at the venue where the hearing was held.

In the Fontibón neighborhood, in the southwest of Bogotá, Valentina’s neighbors, relatives and friends have brought flowers and candles along with writings that they have left around the garbage container in which the body of the young DJ was found.

“He had a promising future, a whole life ahead of him. We are devastated,” his brother Andrés Trespalacios told local media this Saturday during the spontaneous demonstrations of sadness, impotence and rejection of the citizenship to this case that has been described by the Prosecutor’s Office as an aggravated femicide.

In Colombia, the Criminal Code contemplates penalties of up to 50 years in prison for this crime. During 2022, 612 femicides were registered in the country, according to the Colombian Femicide Observatory.

Social networks in Colombia were flooded with messages with hashtags such as #NiUnaMas and #JusticiaParaValentina after the cruel murder of the 23-year-old DJ who dreamed of succeeding in the world of electronic music to achieve a better future for herself and her family. Dream that was cut short at dawn on January 22.