Madrid’s provincial court has ordered that the dancer Rafael Amargo remain in prison pending the hearing. His arraignment is scheduled for April 2024, as he faces charges of drug trafficking. The court concluded that he constitutes a flight risk because the allegations are severe and carry heavy penalties, according to an order recently reviewed by this newspaper.
In the document, judges from Section 30 of the Audiencia Provincial expressed dwindling confidence in Amargo. They recalled that he had previously been denied permission to travel abroad for professional reasons since there was insufficient guarantee that he could not flee. The court also noted concerns about his failure to consistently sign in at court, instead doing so at minimal rates and at times the dates he deems convenient, without medical justification.
Thus, in the decision issued on November 29, the court rejected the artist’s challenge against the provisional detention without bail that was imposed as a precaution until the April 2024 hearing. Rafael Amargo and his producer were sentenced to one year in prison, while the other defendants received a combined sentence of six years.
I wasn’t going to sign the court
The order further stated that there was a risk of leakage and recurrent noncompliance, arguing that the judicial body requires signing every 15 days. The Prosecutor’s Office and the court confirmed Rafael Amargo Soto del Real prison, and, according to Efe, the same average emerged for producer Eduardo de los Santos, another defendant in the case.
Nevertheless, the defense maintained that the guarantor was at the court’s disposal and adhered to the imposed obligations, a position contested by the Prosecutor and not accepted by the three judges.
According to their account, the court acknowledged that there is an unavoidable fact: an interim injunction would normally be issued by the examining court to permit conditional freedom. However, there was a requirement to appear every two weeks to avoid a more burdensome measure, and the defendant would have needed to complete 70 appearances in 35 months.
But by November, he had complied with only a minimal fraction of those appearances and offered excuses for noncompliance citing availability or voluntary participation in some cases, while he deemed some dates appropriate to attend. The court determined that the case under investigation continued and that the defendant’s attendance could not be guaranteed in the given framework.
The judges added that the claim of voluntary attendance clashed with the medical or psychological grounds presented by Amargo in his appeal, underscoring that his absences were not properly justified even after receiving appropriate guidance.
Media influence is not enough
The court also noted that Amargo did not adequately explain why he failed to provide the medical documentation requested by the medical examiner. They highlighted the defendant’s flight risk and cited his public notoriety. Media influence cannot be a mitigating factor, nor can it rest on personal or national ties within Spain.
If the lightest possible measures are repeatedly violated, the risk of escape increases and the court concluded that only imprisonment could be justified. With the trial date approaching, the judges stressed that the defendant’s presence at the board session could not be assured under the circumstances.
The judgment sets the April 8, 10, 11 and 12, 2024 dates for Rafael Amargo, following a restraining order issued on June 7 after theater producer Eduardo de Santos, another defendant, withdrew his attorney.
Dancer Eduardo de Santos and one of Amargo’s partners, Manuel Ángel Batista León, are set to stand trial accused of participating in a drug trafficking operation, allegedly involving methamphetamine sold from Amargo’s apartment.