Alvise appears for the first time as a defendant in a case involving the dissemination of a fraudulent COVID-19 test of former Health Minister Salvador Illa.
Luis Pérez Fernández, known as Alvise, leader of the far-right party Se Acabó La Fiesta (SALF), made his first appearance at the Supreme Court on Friday as an investigated party in a case concerning the alleged dissemination of a false
COVID-19 test result belonging to Salvador Illa, the President of the Generalitat of Catalonia and former Minister of Health.
The session took place before Judge Javier Hernández, who is overseeing multiple investigations involving Alvise in his capacity as a Member of the European Parliament (MEP).
During the proceedings, Alvise defended himself by asserting that the image he circulated had long been available online and that he acted without "mala fe" (bad faith).
However, the public prosecutor has contended that the document was created by Alvise himself, raising questions of accountability.
He is facing charges of falsifying private documents and defamation.
This appearance is the first of what is expected to be multiple visits to the Supreme Court, as Alvise has a subsequent court date scheduled for June 19, where he will answer to accusations of harassment against Susana Gisbert, the Valencian prosecutor for hate crimes and discrimination.
In addition, Alvise is subject to a third investigation concerning the alleged irregular financing of his political party, which encompasses alleged offenses of illegal party financing, fraud, embezzlement, money laundering, and document forgery.
The investigation regarding the false
COVID-19 test began on May 7, when preliminary procedures were initiated by the Supreme Court to lift Alvise's parliamentary immunity.
The judge also offered Alvise the opportunity to volunteer for a declaration concerning these events, which he accepted.
Dressed in a dark suit and accompanied by his lawyer, Alvise confronted the media outside the court, continuing a pattern of behavior observed both upon his arrival and departure.
The investigation into the alleged false accusations against Illa commenced in Barcelona’s Instruction Court No. 33, following a complaint from the prosecution.
The prosecution has attributed the crimes of document forgery and defamation to Alvise for sharing a falsified positive PCR test result of Illa during the 2021 Catalan elections.
This test result, dated February 6 of that year and purportedly produced at the QuirónSalud clinic, has been classified by the prosecution as having been "entirely" fabricated by Alvise.
The healthcare facility later clarified that the published PCR result was indeed false and that it had not issued any diagnostic reports matching the reference number presented in the test attributed to Illa.
According to the prosecution, disseminating such a fraudulent document through a mass medium like Twitter—with its potential for widespread exposure and re-distribution—was intended to harm Illa’s prospects as a candidate for the Generalitat's presidency during the electoral campaign.
Alvise maintained his stance outside the tribunal, stating, "It was a document that had already been circulating widely on all social networks from a case nearly half a decade ago.
I have provided the necessary explanations that there was no element of malice or defamation directed at Mr. Illa."