The State Attorney General, Alvaro Garcia Ortiz, He assured Wednesday evening that neither he nor his entourage had disclosed the emails of the companion of the Madrid president, Isabel Díaz Ayuso. The content of these emails, in which confidential data about Alberto González Amador was revealed and whose content was reported by Cadena Ser, was used to prepare the press release published the next day by the Public Prosecutor’s Office.
The Supreme Court opened proceedings to clarify the responsibility of the State Attorney General in issuing the aforementioned press release. García Ortiz claimed that the statement issued by the prosecutor’s office aimed to deny a “hoax” that had already been broadcast in the media.
“The sole purpose of this press release was deny a hoax. It makes no sense to issue a press release and, at the same time, leak emails. This doesn’t make sense. Neither I nor those around me filter any electronic mail, that’s obvious,” he reaffirmed in an interview with “La nuit en 24h” (TVE) collected by Europa Press, the same day the High Court unanimously agreed to open an investigation against him and against the attorney general of the province of Madrid, Pilar Rodríguez Fernández, for the alleged crime of revealing secrets of which the partner of the Madrid president accuses them. an unprecedented measure, since it is the first time that the head of the public prosecutor’s office has been indicted.
García Ortiz indicated that “I would redo this press release”although he admitted that “the repercussions were undesirable depending on what he was looking for in making it.” “So, I believe that I would not do it again in the same way, but if I had been in my situation, I would surely have repeated it because I believe that the press release was necessary. There was information that was not true and there was information that implicated the prosecution,” he said.
“A state attorney general has a lot of power. And you must exercise it with great caution.
Álvaro Garcia Ortiz
State Attorney General
Subsequently, the attorney general explained that he did not know of the existence of these emails until there was “alarm” because they were cited by a media outlet. “But in this transition – from the moment we request the emails until they arrive – naturally, in an institution like the Prosecutor’s Office, there were many people who were able to know the content of these emails”, said.
Thus, he spoke in favor of an investigation into all leaks which, in his opinion, “are undesirable” and “a cancer which prevents justice from developing normally”. “But obviously, not everyone is the subject of an investigation,” he lamented.
Resist attacks
This Thursday, García Ortiz summoned the Prosecutor’s Office to, as he explained, give explanations, comment and involve in the decision “that has already been taken” and assured that he would listen to them even if he assumes that some of the opinions will differ. “But the state attorney general does not submit to the council of prosecutors,” he ruled.
On another note, García Ortiz assured that he would remain at the head of the institution and declared that He is neither “investigated” nor “indicted”. “What the order says is that the Supreme Court has the sole jurisdiction to conduct an investigation into certain emails that the state attorney general may have disclosed. “He is the only one competent to investigate whether or not these emails were leaked by the prosecutor,” he said.
Precisely, when asked if his decision to stay, he believes that favors or harms the image of the parquet General of the State and if his authority is not shaken, García Ortiz responded that we must look “in a medium and long term perspective, what will be good for the Prosecutor’s Office”.
At the same time, he indicated that the Prosecutor’s Office must be a “strong institution, capable of resisting the onslaught of any attack that could reach it.” “We can’t send the message that the state attorney general can be toppled by a small current, it has to be a tsunami that can topple a state attorney general,” he said .
In the same vein, and questioned about a hypothetical request for resignation from the President of the Government, Pedro Sánchez, the Attorney General refrained from responding, affirming that he does not like to make political fiction and that The circumstances must be taken into account. . that surround any decision of such importance.
Likewise, he responded to the request for resignation from certain associations of prosecutors, insisting on the fact that “this is not the first time” that they have requested his dismissal and that we must “think about it”, because it’s a decision that “there’s no turning back.”
“Persecutions” of the post
At another point, García Ortiz revealed that the fact that his position was appointed by a government “born at the ballot box” implies lasting “persecution”, although he affirmed that his position had to be “objective” to defend the the integrity of institutions.
Of course, he emphasized that prosecutors deal with very sensitive documents and “a lot of information,” while also emphasizing that if he wanted to harm a certain political spectrum, he would have “a lot of information” that he would have , as he stated, “never use.” » to imply or filter. “The responsibility of the state attorney general is to remain neutral and impartial” and that is why “he cannot engage in political attacks,” he said. “A state attorney general has a lot of power. And this must be exercised with great caution,” he defended.
Although García Ortiz said he does not feel defenseless in the legal sense, he acknowledges that he does not have “adequate resources” to respond to all the insinuations made about him.
