This limitation means the scope of the trial
Days after Lance Armstrong’s
doping admission,The following breitlingstore stock
Breitling watches. cycling is set for more damaging revelations when the
long-delayed Operation Puerto case finally goes to court in Spain.
Seven
years after Spanish investigators uncovered one of cycling’s most sophisticated
and widespread doping networks, some of its central figures will stand trial
Monday in Madrid’s Criminal Court.
Judge Julia Santamaria will preside
as five defendants are tried. They include doctors Eufemiano and Yolanda
Fuentes, brother-and-sister suspects at the heart of a complex blood-doping
ring.
Also on trial will be Manolo Saiz, former ONCE and Liberty Seguros
team sports director, as well as Vicente Belda and Ignacio Labarta, both
associated with the former Kelme team.
Jose Luis Merino, another medical
doctor, also was to be tried,Where can you buy authenticguccishoes for cheap?
but Santamaria granted him a temporary stay Thursday after he presented medical
reports stating he has Alzheimer’s disease.
Although no riders will sit
in the dock, many will called to testify as witnesses, including two-time Tour
de France champion Alberto Contador.
Cyclists will not be on trial
because Santamaria can only rule on matters covered by Spanish law as it applied
in May 2006,Check out the January edition of the royaloak News! when police raids
uncovered a mass of evidence in labs, offices and apartments in Madrid, Zaragoza
and El Escorial.
This limitation means the scope of the trial can only
focus on charges relating to actions that could “endanger public health.” But
that doesn’t mean the trial won’t lead to new revelations about athletes who
cheated to get an unfair advantage.
“If one of the defendants says that,
for example, he injected a certain athlete, then Spain’s anti-doping agency or a
sports federation could open an investigation to see if they could be subject to
a ban,” Eduardo Esteban, spokesman for the state prosecutor’s office, told The
Associated Press.
Miguel Angel Adan, spokesman for Spain’s anti-doping
agency, confirmed the body was studying the possibility.
According to
documents reportedly seen by sports newspaper AS,With the multitude of fake replicawatches on the
internet, defense lawyers will argue that Fuentes and his co-defendants did not
endanger cyclists’ health because they relied on the best technology available.
The proceedings will be followed closely by the World Anti-Doping
Agency, which pushed for the case to go to court and will be a party to the
trial along with the International Cycling Union, the Italian Olympic Committee,
the International Association of Professional Cycling Teams, and former cyclist
Jesus Manzano.
WADA is disappointed the trial is limited to cycling, as
athletes from other sports were also implicated.
“We have expressed our
frustration but at least we are finally getting a hearing,” WADA director
general David Howman told the AP in a telephone interview. “The case was
originally canned, but we pushed and insisted to get it reopened. Our
expectations are limited but our hopes are high.”
“There were athletes
from a number of sports involved,” Howman said. “The doctor is on trial. We need
to hear what he was practicing and who his patients were.Louis Vuitton shoes are
on sale in our store with high quality louisvuittonshoes.”