“We prosecutors handle a lot of information. I assure you that if I wanted to harm a certain political spectrum, I have plenty of information, which of course I will never use,” stated the attorney general, Álvaro García Ortiz, in the kind interview he gave to Xavier Fortes on RTVE following the order of the Supreme Court that declares an investigation open to determine whether confidential information was leaked in the case against President Ayuso’s partner, Alberto González Amador, for tax fraud and document falsification.
García Ortiz defended his innocence and clarified some technical issues of the case, very convoluted, and which will surely be impossible to clarify, but also He remained silent on some questions given his status as an investigator. It is the first time in democracy that the person holding the highest position in the Public Prosecutor’s Office is suspected of having committed a crime, which means that he will be investigated by his subordinate. That special circumstance should entail his immediate resignation or dismissal, precisely so that he could defend himself without subtracting so much authority from the State Attorney General’s Office (FGE). That would be normal in any country where there was a true appreciation for the rule of law, but not here. In Spain, the prosecutor does not resign and the Government defends him as one of its own.
Resigning would be normal in any country where there was a true appreciation for the rule of law, but not here
The extensive interview with García Ortiz has given rise to many headlines, but It is surprising how little that reflection of yours has scandalized, that 20 minutes did have the success to highlightin which he stated “if I wanted to do harm, I have plenty of information.” What is disturbing is what, in a context of media leaks, could be understood as a threat to opposition partiesalthough the attorney general promises never to use it.
A clarification is urgently needed about the true meaning of his words. The politicization of the FGE is not new, but it has become now more than ever the technical execution of government wishes in thorny judicial matters, from the way of interpreting the law of only yes, it is yes, to embezzlement in the amnesty law. , going through investigations that affect the President of the Government and his associates. Garcia Ortiz has imposed its “political” criteria, which is why it was appointed by Pedro Sánchezto the other prosecutors who are hierarchically his subordinates. His actions, which include a policy of caciquil appointments and punishments, are described by almost all prosecutors’ associations as arbitrary and opaque.
In the interview he mentioned several times that the attorney general has a lot of power and was in favor of sharing it in a possible reform, although he does not plan to go ahead by setting an example, since then The FGE would resume the principles of functional autonomy and impartiality of the institution which for now no Government, nor any party, is willing to do without in the exercise of power.
