The headline from Politico pretty much sums up the bombshell – practically up there with Franco’s infamous “bando de guerra’’ announcement as the beginning of Spain’s Civil War – ‘Spain’s top court ousts the Attorney General, escalating the prime minister’s feud with the judiciary’.
This is all to do with the lack of the Constitutional presumption of innocence; plus the coincidence that the ruling came out precipitously on November 20th (the 50th anniversary of Franco’s death and – by chance – the very day when the Almería PP collapsed in yet another scandal). The announcement of ‘Guilty’ itself a filtration (of all ironies), since the ruling itself hadn’t been written: the five conservatives in the Supreme Court voting according (apparently) to their politics rather than their understanding of jurisprudence and furthermore without proof of guilt beyond accusations from various far-right groups including Vox and the hate groups Manos Limpias and Hazte Oir.
The court banned the Attorney General Álvaro García Ortiz from holding public office for two years for allegedly leaking details of a tax probe involving the partner of Madrid’s regional leader Isabel Díaz Ayuso, a rising star among the country’s conservative voters. It further fined him 7,500 euros and ordered him to pay ‘the boyfriend’ (‘el Novio de Ayuso’) as Ayuso’s companion Alberto González Amador is habitually called, 10,000 euros for his troubles.
An opinion piece from the director of elDiario.es begins: ‘The lies of Miguel Ángel Rodríguez (Ayuso’s adviser) and Isabel Díaz Ayuso, the far-right accusations, the hoaxes, and those who published those falsehoods have won. The fraudulent middleman has won. Journalism that verifies the news has lost, the Attorney General has lost, the truth has lost. And justice has lost as well. Its image in the eyes of the public is once again tarnished by a conviction that is very difficult to explain…’
To further quote Politico: ‘Justice Minister Félix Bolaños said that the government was obliged “to abide by the sentence” and appoint a new attorney general. But he stressed the executive’s disagreement with the conviction and reaffirmed its belief in García Ortiz’s innocence’.
Cadena Ser has: ‘The president of the Progressive Union of Prosecutors says that "The Supreme Court has convicted an innocent man, and this will have profound consequences for trust in the justice system"’.
José Antonio Martín Pallín, emeritus magistrate of the Supreme Court, says "The ruling is the closest thing to a coup d'état".
Pedro Sánchez, speaking from Johannesburg on Sunday, said he accepted the sentence of the Supreme Court, but profoundly disagreed with it.
Indeed, everyone on the left is equally sure of the Attorney General’s innocence. The Podemos far-left leader: ‘First they went for Podemos, then they went for the Catalonians and now they’ve gone for the PSOE in a further example of a judicial coup’.
The previous mayor of Madrid Manuela Carmena says that ‘the ruling is deeply unfair’.
The Minister for Public Administration, Óscar López, expressed feeling a sense of "desolation, weariness and disbelief in many things," and announced that the Government will activate whatever mechanisms are necessary.
Yolanda Díaz (Sumar) says that the sentence is a judicial resolution without any incriminating evidence and that the ruling is directed against the coalition government.
Gabriel Rufián from ERC said, “The message is clear: Ayuso is untouchable”.
The five-to-two ruling of the seven judges within the tribunal, says elDiario.es, shows that ‘the division within the court inevitably raises doubts about the independence of the judiciary or its politicization. The PP's methodical strategy with the General Council of the Judiciary (CGPJ) has allowed it to control Supreme Court appointments for decades, giving the right wing an overwhelming majority in all its chambers’.
Finally, a legal opinion, made a day before the sentence was given: ‘This is the first time in Spanish history (this is truly historic, unlike the trivialities of Núñez Feijóo, for whom everything is historic) that a court has tried the Attorney General. And given that he is being tried, one would think it would be for a very serious crime. But we have become accustomed to trivializing crimes, always within the sphere of the Government and its President. We have become accustomed to victimless crimes fabricated from newspaper clippings that certain judges seize upon as if they were the most important professional matter of their lives, and which they investigate as if the Holy Inquisition would. The crime, if it exists, is insignificant, and only a diabolical mind could have transformed an official statement into a crime of revealing secrets. But that is the level of justice we have in Spain today, thanks to the alliance of judges and right-wing politicians…’
Let us not forget José Maria Aznar and his famous ‘Let him who can do something, do something!’
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On the other hand, the president of the Community of Madrid – Isabel Díaz Ayuso – says that it had all been an attempt by Pedro Sánchez to "undermine" the separation of powers and an "attack by the State apparatus" against her boyfriend Alberto González Amador. El Huff Post asks: ‘Do we need to be reminded of what happened to Pablo Casado (the previous leader of the Partido Popular) when he accused Isabel Díaz Ayuso of bribery? Does anyone even know what has become of Pablo Casado? Do we also need to be reminded of what just happened to the Attorney General, who was accused by Ayuso's boyfriend?’
An opinion piece from La Sexta says that ‘According to Ayuso, the Supreme Court's ruling demonstrates that things typical of a "dictatorship" happen in Spain. A dictatorship in which she can freely spout whatever nonsense she pleases; her partner has been able to take an Attorney General to court and win; and the government has said it will abide by the ruling.
Indeed, it would appear that Ayuso's boyfriend decided on sober reflection neither to commit suicide nor to leave Spain (as he had threatened while speaking as a witness during the court case); on the contrary, he buys a luxury penthouse in the toniest part of Madrid (with, and excuse the joke, the AG providing the down-payment).
And what says the leader of Vox, Santiago Abascal? On Twitter he writes: “Álvaro García Ortiz is the first Attorney General to be convicted in the history of Spain. Pedro Sánchez will also be the first president in the history of Spain to end up in prison”.
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If he must go – and he can still appeal for what good that might do him – then one suggestion is to substitute the AG with Baltazar Garzón (also defenestrated by the Supreme Court many years ago but now reinstated). Garzón evidently has his heart in the right place: ‘Garzón speaks out fearlessly on TVE and "radically" disagrees with the Supreme Court's conviction of the Attorney General: "I don't trust this justice system; the best people aren't in the Supreme Court", he says’. Well, it would be a slap in the face for the followers of Sauron.
On Sunday, hundreds of people (including Garzón) demonstrated in front of the Palacio de Justicia in Madrid shouting ‘golpistas con toga’ (something like: ‘treacherous judges’).
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President Sánchez is becoming used to the lawfare by the judiciary against his wife, without any wrongdoing discovered after eighteen months despite a judge’s mediatic and continuous fishing attempts, and his brother, who obtained his rather unimpressive job as a music teacher in Badajoz before Sánchez was voted in as president.
The questions ordinary people might be considering include – If the Attorney General is convicted before the person who billed millions for masks with false invoices… what message does that send to anyone who investigates those in power? González Amador – a mere health technician – allegedly earned over two million euros selling face masks at the height of the pandemic and attempted to avoid paying any tax on the profits.
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What is lawfare – I’m glad you asked: From Google IA: ‘Lawfare is "war through the courts," that is, the instrumental use of legal procedures to persecute, weaken, or harm political adversaries’.
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The theory is that Franco may be fifty years dead, but Francoism is still a runner.
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We are beginning to enter into election territory.
While Feijóo and Abascal, the leaders of the right and the far-right, need each other in a partnership (one which with Vox as the junior member no doubt wagging the tail of the dog), an alternative and vastly more attractive and bombproof leader waits in the wings: Ayuso.
This is what all the fuss is about. Ayuso is commendably far to the right, while still within the Partido Popular. She’s pretty and – unlike the inept Feijóo – she’s a vote-catcher.