The mayor of Los Montesinos, José Manuel Butrón (PSOE), the deputy mayor Ana Belén Juárez Pastor and two council staff, both employed at the time of the reported events, have had their trial for a crime of workplace harassment, suspended.

It was due to be heard this month at the Provincial Court, but now, after a request from Ana Belén Juárez, who has asserted her newly acquired status of registered member, as an autonomous deputy, the case has been referred to the Criminal Chamber of the Superior Court of Justice of the Valencian Community.

This is yet another delay of the trial which reached oral hearing after more than a decade of investigation, and which had been postponed on several occasions in recent weeks.

From 2014 to 2020, these types of requests were not considered if the judicial procedure was already underway, with the investigation closed and an oral trial scheduled, but the courts changed their criteria following a challenge Catalonia.

Section VII of the Court has accepted the request, as has the Prosecutor’s Office, due to the status of the councillor, now a deputy, and also because her accusation document indicates that the alleged participation of the mayor and the two officials is linked to those of the councillor, and therefore must be tried jointly.