Pretrial detention without bail for top Socialist figure

Supreme Court judge Leopoldo Puente has ordered pretrial detention, with communication and without bail, for the former Organization Secretary of Spain's governing Socialists.

Santos Cerdán is being held on charges of "alleged crimes of membership in a criminal organization, bribery, and influence peddling."

The decision follows a hearing lasting over an hour on Monday, during which the former number three of the Socialist party denied involvement in any corrupt scheme.

Cerdán claimed that incriminating audio recordings were taken out of context and presented himself as a victim of a witch hunt due to his clear role in negotiations between the Spanish government and Catalan pro-independence parties.

Spanish PM

Spanish PM Pedro Sánchez has said that he "respects the judiciary and its work" after he was asked about Cerdán's pretrial detention. 

"Now is the time for the judiciary, and it is the justice system that has to rule on the responsibilities of Santos Cerdán in these matters," Sánchez said during a press conference in Seville next to UN Secretary General António Guterres.

What are the allegations?

Santos Cerdán was Pedro Sánchez’s right-hand man until recently. He served as a Socialist MP and the party's organization secretary.

A police report leaked to the press in mid-June identified him as responsible for handling illegal commission payments linked to public contracts.

The report contains eight audio recordings of conversations between Cerdán, former Socialist minister José Luis Ábalos, and Ábalos’s former aide, Koldo García.

In the recordings, they allegedly discuss the payment of €620,000 in illegal commissions.

According to the report, Cerdán was in charge of "managing the alleged payments."

Less than 24 hours after the report was published, Cerdán announced his resignation, relinquishing both his seat in Congress and his position within the Socialist Party.

However, he defended his innocence: "I hope to focus on my defense and prove that I have never committed any wrongdoing."