VZCZCXRO2793
OO RUEHAG RUEHDF RUEHIK RUEHLZ RUEHROV
DE RUEHMD #0899 1311630
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
O 111630Z MAY 07
FM AMEMBASSY MADRID
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 2501
INFO RUEKJCS/JOINT STAFF WASHDC IMMEDIATE
RUEKJCS/SECDEF WASHDC IMMEDIATE
RHMFIUU/HQ USCENTCOM MACDILL AFB FL IMMEDIATE
RHMFISS/HQ USEUCOM VAIHINGEN GE IMMEDIATE
RUCNFB/FBI WASHDC IMMEDIATE
RUEAWJA/DEPT OF JUSTICE WASHDC IMMEDIATE
RUCNMEM/EU MEMBER STATES COLLECTIVE PRIORITY
RUEHGB/AMEMBASSY BAGHDAD PRIORITY 0165
RUEHLA/AMCONSUL BARCELONA PRIORITY 2695

UNCLAS MADRID 000899 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
EUR/WE FOR ALLEGRONE, CLEMENTS AND CERVETTI, L/LEI FOR 
PROPP, KULISH AND JOHNSON 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: MARR PGOV PREL SP
SUBJECT: SPAIN/COUSO CASE: UPDATE; CONVERSATIONS WITH KEY 
SPANISH LEADERS 
 
REF: A. MADRID 0800 AND PREVIOUS 
     ¶B. LLORENS-ALLEGRONE E-MAIL OF APRIL 30 
     ¶C. 2007 
 
¶1. (SBU) DCM Llorens met with Spanish State Secretary for 
Justice (Deputy Minister-equivalent) Julio Perez Hernandez on 
May 10 to express USG's strong concern about the formal 
charges filed in Spain against  the three US serviceman named 
in the legal case filed by family members of the Spanish 
camaraman Jose Couso, who was killed by US fire during the 
capture of Baghdad in April 2003 (ref A).  DCM was following 
up on the April 30 discussion between US Ambassador to Spain 
Aguirre and Spanish First Vice President Maria Teresa 
Fernandez de la Vega (ref B), in which de la Vega said she 
was following the case carefully, had reviewed the the 
documents filed by Judge Pedraz on April 27 and had found no 
new material in the material or evidence included in the 
decision nor in the Judge's conclusions.  In response to the 
Ambassador's strong pitch for the government to seriously 
consider appealing the decision, she said that an appeal was 
among the options being weighed, but cautioned that the 
government had to tread carefully in dealing with Spain's 
independent judiciary.  She assured the Ambassador that she 
was deeply involved in following the case and that it had the 
attention of the highest levels of the Spanish government. 
 
¶2. (SBU) In his conversation with the DCM, Perez-Hernandez 
said that there was still some time availabe for an appeal 
(despite information last week that the appeal deadline had 
passed) because the timeline did not start precisely when the 
case was filed.  He said that he understood that the Spanish 
National Court Chief Prosecutor Javier Zaragoza was 
considering an appeal.   (Perez-Hernandez said that his 
office was checking on the precise timeline).  He said his 
government shared the USG's concern about this case and said 
he would follow the case every step of the way and stay in 
touch with the Embassy.  He noted that the government does 
not control the judiciary and it might be counter-productive 
to launch a formal government approach, but that the GOS 
would work with the US to assist in the process.  DCM 
reiterated the USG's deep concern about the case, noting that 
the USG had conducted a thorough investigation, shared these 
results with the Spanish government and that the results were 
clear that the three US servicemen had committed no crime. 
Our sympathies remained with the families but there was no 
cause to ruin the lives of the three US servicemen, who were 
not criminals. DCM vowed to remain in close contact with 
Perez-Hernandez and his office on the case, and 
Perez-Hernandez welcome close coordination. 
Aguirre