The case for embezzlement and perversion of justice during the organisation of the Bull Fighting Festival in Calasparra 2017 -2019, that has been hanging over the head of ex-Mayor Jose Velez since 2021, has been archived by the Provincial Court of Murcia.
This decision, that also applies to ex-local councillors involved in the organisation of the fiestas, Jordi Arce Corbalan and Jose Merino Moreno plus the administrator of Chipe Producciones, is «firm» and there is no right of appeal.
The Court in Caravaca had intended to try Jose Velez and the other three accused for embezzlement of public funds related to the purchase of bulls and other expenses of the fiestas 2017-2019, falsifying document and perversion of justice.
Jose Velez has lived in the shadow of these accusations during almost all of his service as Secretary General of the Socialist Partty in Murcia (2021 -2025). The situation became unsustainable last November when a judge decided that he should appear before the Provincial Court in Murcia and demanded eight years imprisonment.
In December 2024 Velez stepped aside and announced he would not stand in the primary elections of his party and renounced the possibility of being re-elected Secretary General.
In a letter to party members Velez referred to the «personal difficulties» he had faced, especially in Calasparra, during his time as Mayor when the Popular Party used, he said, «false charges» that put him «against the wall» with intention to damage him politically.
He has always expressed his commitment to continue defending his honour and his fight for social justice.
