The tensions generated within the Prosecutor’s Office due to the possible accusation of the former president Carles Puigdemont by terrorism in the case of Democratic Tsunami have coincided with the visit of the State Attorney General, Alvaro Garcia Ortiz, to Barcelona, where he had planned for weeks to meet with the leadership of the public prosecutor’s office in Catalonia. Before starting the meeting, held in the City of Justice, García Ortiz took the opportunity to address the criticism and leaks of recent days, and to defend himself against accusations that he was pressured by his subordinates to avoid this accusation.
In statements to the press, he described the differences in criteria of the prosecutors in this case as “normal” and asked to “let them work in peace” and avoid leaks, which he described as a “betrayal of privacy and camaraderie.” . Thus, he has denied having influenced the prosecutor Alvaro Redondoin charge of preparing the presentation on the presentation by judge Manuel García-Castellónto modify his criteria and has stated multiple times that he was unaware of the existence of a previous deletion of the same Redondo different from the one that was finally delivered and presented to him.
In this sense, he has assured that the working documents belong to the “absolute privacy” and has warned that in the work environment there cannot be mistrust, nor can one “have to watch” who one speaks to. For all this, he has asked that “work space” be allowed under conditions and without external pressures. “If we do not take care of ourselves, we are on the wrong path,” said García Ortiz, recalling that if prosecutors ask politicians to be able to work independently, they must act with the same demands among colleagues.
No decision on Puigdemont
This was the first public statement of Garcia Ortiz after this Wednesday a total of 12 of the 15 prosecutors of the Supreme Court appreciated signs of terrorism and that 11 of them consider that they are sufficient to charge Puigdemont and the parliamentarian Ruben Wagensberg. Regarding this, García Ortiz has assured that it is common for there to be differences of opinion, but he has considered the leaks about the deliberations “anomalous” and “surprising”, and has asked to “let the lieutenant prosecutor of the Supreme Court work”, María Ángeles Sánchez Conde, which is who will end up deciding the final position of the Prosecutor’s Office. “We have a discrepancy that must be resolved by the hierarchy,” he added, making it clear that there is no decision yet taken in this regard.
He has also ruled out giving his opinion, when asked by journalists, about the words of the President of the Government, Pedro Sanchezwhich last week ruled out the terrorism crime in the case of Tsunami. “The prosecutor is not there to give his opinion, he is there to work calmly,” he stressed. Finally, she explained that the Superior Prosecutor’s Office of Catalonia is collecting information from all the provincial prosecutor’s offices to make an exhaustive count of how many cases would be likely to be covered by the amnesty law, which is why he has shied away from giving an approximate figure. “It is a more complicated process than it may seem. We have to do a manual count,” she argued, ensuring that it is not as easy as “hitting the button.”
