They express their “deep concern for the validity of the rule of law”
MADRID, 24 Nov. (EUROPA PRESS) –
Twenty-two of the twenty-nine Anti-Corruption prosecutors, that is, approximately 75 percent, signed a statement this Friday in which they expressed their “deep concern for the validity of the Rule of Law” and have shown their support for the prosecutors of the ‘process’. ‘ who demanded “institutional protection” from the State Attorney General for the ‘lawfare’ accusations.
In the letter, to which Europa Press has had access, the signatories have expressed their “recognition and support for the prosecutors involved in all the procedures linked to or derived from the so-called ‘procés'” and have condemned the “unjustified attacks” that they have been receiving, as well as the “threat of political oversight of the performance of their professional obligations.”
Furthermore, the twenty-two have shown their “firm commitment in defense of the division of powers, the principle of equality in the application of the law and in defense of the independence of the courts.”
The text takes place after last week the Supreme Court prosecutors who were in charge of representing the Public Ministry in the ‘procés’ trial – Consuelo Madrigal, Javier Zaragoza, Fidel Cadena and Jaime Moreno – claimed Álvaro García Ortiz that, “in his capacity as Attorney General of the State and president of the Fiscal Council, after a hearing by this body”, granted them “institutional protection” before the parliamentary investigation commissions agreed upon by PSOE and Junts to detect alleged cases of ‘lawfare’. ‘.
Specifically, they requested protection because “along with the granting of the amnesty, an exceptional grace mechanism that is not contemplated in the Constitution”, both parties had “agreed on the creation of investigative commissions in parliamentary headquarters with the purpose of evaluating the actions that have been carried out or carried out by the judicial bodies and the Public Ministry”.
According to the four prosecutors of the ‘procés’, the content of this agreement generates “special concern” for them, since – in their opinion – “it violates the principle of separation of powers and undermines judicial independence at its roots.”
In this sense, the four stressed that the review of jurisdictional decisions by another branch of the State, in this case the Legislature, was not “admissible in a State that proclaims itself democratic and governed by the rule of law.” And they warned that initiatives like this clearly demonstrated “the attempt to establish political control over the Judiciary.”
The State Attorney General responded in a letter that “any position of the Public Ministry regarding a future amnesty” required “knowing the definitive norm that regulates it once it becomes part of our system.” Thus, he pointed out that said positioning, “in any technical-legal case”, would be carried out “through statutory channels” and in cases in which the intervention of the Prosecutor’s Office is demanded.
García Ortiz insisted that he had to “maintain an impartial public position” but assured that he would “always” ensure “the autonomy of those who have exercised and continue to exercise as prosecutors in defense of legality, constitutional values ??and principles and, ultimately, democratic institutions.
As a result of this situation, this same week 18 of the 26 prosecutors of the Criminal Chamber of the Supreme Court also spoke out in support of the prosecutors of the ‘procés’. The signatories sent a letter to García Ortiz in which they criticize him for “deliberately ignoring” the request of Madrigal, Zaragoza, Cadena and Moreno.
Likewise, the six members of the Association of Prosecutors (AF) in the Fiscal Council asked the attorney general to debate the protection requested by the prosecutors of the ‘procés’ in the face of ‘lawfare’ accusations at the next ordinary meeting.
