This Tuesday, the Council of Ministers plans to grant a partial pardon to The Gürtel whistleblower José Luis Peñas, who was sentenced for the crimes of illicit association, corruption, falsification of documents, fraud, embezzlement of public funds and prevarication, with the mitigating circumstance of confession, to five years and three months in prison, five years and one month in prison, seven years and six months of special ban on employment or public service and a fine of 130,600 euros.
As ‘ElDiario.es’ advances and as government sources and the defense of the former PP advisor confirm to Europa Press, 17 years after the complaint and the discovery of the plot, he arrives this Tuesday at the Council of Ministers. They emphasize that this partial grace will allow him maintain his position as a civil servant at Madrid City Hall.
Precisely, on October 14, the National Court agreed to end the prison sentence imposed on Peñas after deciding to suspend it for three years in April. Already in 2021, the Criminal Chamber of the Supreme Court reported favorably on the granting of a partial pardon to the plaintiff Gürtel and sent a report to the Ministry of Justice stating that it supported the commutation of the two absolute disqualification sentences to which Peñas He was sentenced. two special disqualification sentences, of identical duration to those commuted, for freely designated or elected public functions.
In its decision, the Chamber took into account the criteria of the prosecutor, who supported the granting of a partial pardon to José Luis Peñas, taking into account the reasons of justice, equity and public utility, the requirements required by the law of grace and repentance of the applicant. . Furthermore, the prosecutor expressed in his report the lack of protection for whistleblowers in Spainunlike what happens in comparative law where the figure of the “whistleblower” (informant or repentant) is recognized and protected.
It also assessed Directive (EU) 2019/1937 of 23 October 2019 on the protection of persons who report violations of Union law.
excessive affliction
The public prosecutor’s report emphasized that compliance with the absolute exclusion in Peñas’ case would mean the loss of his job, which would mean excessive and unnecessary distress for him.
On the other hand, he considered that the partial pardon, commuting the absolute disqualification sentences into two special disqualification sentences, would allow him not to lose his status as a public official and continue to exercise their functions by order of Madrid City Hall.
