The prosecutor in charge of the complaint opposes filing, as ordered by the ‘number two’ of the Public Ministry
MADRID, 23 Abr. (EUROPA PRESS) –
The Board of Chamber Prosecutors meets this Wednesday divided by the confrontation between the ‘number two’ of the Prosecutor’s Office – the lieutenant prosecutor of the Supreme Court, Ángeles Sánchez Conde – and the prosecutor María de la O Silva over whether to investigate to two colleagues for alleged revelation of secrets following a press release with data from emails exchanged with the lawyer of Alberto G.A., partner of the Madrid president Isabel Díaz Ayuso.
Prosecutor’s sources tell Europa Press that the disagreement stems from the fact that Silva – who must inform the Superior Court of Justice of Madrid if he is in favor or against admitting the complaint – wants to investigate the communications between the chief prosecutor of Madrid, Pilar Rodríguez, the economic crimes prosecutor Julián Salto and the State Attorney General himself, Álvaro García Ortiz, to find out how the decision to publish that press release was reached; while Sánchez Conde understands that the pertinent thing is to file the complaint, as was already done with the one presented by the Illustrious Bar Association of Madrid (ICAM) for the same facts.
Given this discrepancy, Silva invoked article 27 of the Organic Statute of the Public Prosecutor’s Office (EOMF), according to which when a prosecutor “receives an order or instruction that he considers contrary to the laws or that, for any other reason, he considers inadmissible,” he will transfer to his superior and, if the discrepancy persists, he may convene a Board of Court Prosecutors.
The sources consulted indicate that the attorney general has abstained from the matter because he is aware of the facts that they will study, so he will not be present at the meeting this Wednesday, which will take place at 9:00 a.m. Prosecutor José Luis Bueren, who has retired, will not attend either.
As things stand, there will be 36 at the table, of which 16 are members of the Progressive Union of Prosecutors (UPF), an association close to the attorney general, including Sánchez Conde herself and two former heads of the Public Ministry, Dolores Delgado and María José Segarra. . Another 9 belong to the Association of Prosecutors (AF), including two of the ‘procés’ prosecutors, Consuelo Madrigal and Fidel Cadena. And the remaining 11 are not affiliated with any association, like the chief anti-corruption prosecutor Alejandro Luzón or his predecessor Manuel Moix.
According to consulted sources, AF prosecutors – who are a minority – will maintain support for Silva, while those close to the UPF are expected to support Sánchez Conde. The key, these sources point out, will be in the positions adopted by the other 11. Silva, who opposes filing the complaint, would need to convince 8 of them to gain the majority.
However, these sources recall that the meeting – which is held behind closed doors – has an advisory nature and that, once heard, Sánchez Conde will be able to ratify his decision to archive or correct it without the obligation to adhere to the criteria of the majority.
Fiscal sources indicate that the ‘number two’ of the Public Ministry will defend this Wednesday that the complaint filed by Díaz Ayuso’s partner against the prosecutors of the case for alleged revelation of secrets should be filed, not only because she considers that there is no evidence of a crime, but because the Prosecutor’s Office already ruled in this sense on April 9 regarding the ICAM complaint for the same facts, which is why it advocates maintaining unity of criteria.
It is worth remembering that the Madrid Prosecutor’s Office, when it was against the admission that the ICAM complaint, defended the “constitutional legitimacy” of the press release issued and assured that, on the basis of data already released, it tried to confront “untrue” information.
Sánchez Conde already conveyed these arguments – verbally – to Silva, who proposed that investigative procedures be carried out within the Prosecutor’s Office itself before issuing a report to the TSJ of Madrid, where the complaint has been filed since the prosecutors enjoy the status of qualified persons.
On April 15, the State Attorney General assumed “ultimate responsibility” for the press release issued on March 14 to which the complaint by Díaz Ayuso’s partner refers.
García Ortiz assured that he was not going to “consent” that the chief prosecutor of Madrid and the prosecutor in charge of the procedure were “disturbed by exercising criminal action in the face of the possible commission of acts of a criminal nature.”
“I will not tolerate that any prosecutor has to bear the consequences of the transparent functioning of our institution,” he said in an institutional statement, in which he insisted that it could not be considered “infringed on the duty of confidentiality” because the purpose of the communication was “in the public domain as a result of undesirable leaks.”
