The case against Fernndez Villa for the Hulla case is dropped due to his deteriorating mental health

The Court of Education number 3 of Oviedo gave its consent provisional archiving of the open case against former SOMA-UGT leader Jos ngel Fernndez Villa in the Hulla case for the deterioration of his mental health.

In an order, the magistrate specifies that this worsening «makes his understanding of the development of the trial unrealizable» even if he specifies that the former union leader, 81 years old, must be subjected to periodic review of one’s state of health in the event that favorable conditions are achieved.

In the Hulla case, the alleged irregularities committed in the works of the residence of Montepo de la Minera in Felechosain the municipality of Aller, and affects around twenty people, including, in addition to Fernández Villa, the former president of Montepo de la Minera Asturiana José Antonio Postigo.

The Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office opened the investigation in 2017 after Fernández Villa and Postigo took advantage of tax amnesty for the year 2012 to regularize 1.2 million and 436,000 eurosrespectively, money that is suspected to have come from the work of the nursing home, financed with mining funds after the modification of the decree that regulated its concession.

With this decision the court responds to the request of Fernández Villa’s defense, who provided forensic reports which confirmed the worsening of his mental state.

The judge admits that «his mental state is clear makes it impossible to appear and participate in the proceedings» with «due guarantees and in conditions of equality and without defence».

In this way, the order continues, Fernndez Villa «will not have the ability to be brought to justice and subjected to trial with the guarantees» provided fundamental right in the Constitutionwhich makes it mandatory to decree the dismissal and archiving of the case concerning his person.

In 2021, the Provincial Court of Oviedo had already established the suspension of Fernández Villa’s admission to prison due to the general worsening of his state of health after being sentenced to three years in prison for having allocated 234,462 euros from the union he directed for 35 years.

The ruling established that, between 1989 and 2001, Fernández Villa withheld the benefits that Hunosa paid through checks to union members for participating in the inter-centre committee and that, starting from that date and when the company began to pay such amounts by bank transfer, it opened an account in the name of SOMA-UGT from which it transferred such sums to another, always at the mining union.

Furthermore, until 2012, he was paid various expenses, in addition to the mileage and allowances due to him as general secretary of the union, such as acquisition, maintenance and repair of two cars Mitsubishi in your name; mobile phone consumption, meals, cigars, hats, dietary and pharmaceutical products or suitcases for an amount of 173,932 euros.