The state attorney general, Álvaro García Ortiz, defended that he would not resign because he was “neither investigating nor indicting.” This was stated in an interview with ’24h’ this Wednesday, the same day the The Supreme Court opened an investigation groundbreaking case against state attorney general for revealing secrets.
“Does it help or hurt me to stay? I made this reflection and I concluded that staying is the best”, commented García Ortiz at the start of the interview, in a context where both the PP and the Prosecutors’ associations They demand his immediate resignation after being indicted by the Supreme Court for allegedly revealing secrets in relation to the investigation against Isabel Díaz Ayuso’s partner, Alberto González Amador, accused of tax evasion and falsification of documents.
Also regarding his refusal to resign, despite requests from prosecutors’ associations, García Ortiz stressed that “it is not the first time in these two years” that he has held this position. Concerning the reasons which led him to rule out a departure, he stressed that “Leaving or resigning is not a step back”to which he added that the situation is now at the “beginning of a path”, which “may end elsewhere”.
This is why he considers “that it is good for the prosecution that the Attorney General of the State remains” and thus “shows public opinion and the criminals of this country that the prosecution is strong”.
In addition, the Attorney General stressed that the College of Prosecutors is meeting this Thursday because he summoned it. “I am the Attorney General, the Council of Prosecutors is the consultative body of the prosecutor. The State Attorney General does not submit to the advice of the court,” he insisted.
I will resend the press release
In this way, García Ortiz assumed that the Prosecutor’s Office had drawn up a press release for the “sole purpose” of “debunking a hoax”. This was stated by the Attorney General in reference to the statement sent by the Madrid Public Prosecutor’s Office on the morning of March 14, following information from several media outlets that denied the information from El Mundo.
We then learned that it was González Amador’s lawyer who, in an email previously sent to the Madrid public prosecutor’s office, had recognized the commission of two crimes by his client and had proposed an agreement to the public prosecutor’s office.
The attorney general acknowledged that he would reissue this press release even knowing what was going to happen and the repercussions it was going to have, which he said is “undesirable.” Furthermore, he said that “leaks are a cancer that prevents processes from developing normally.”
Asked if he has felt called into question since taking office, García Ortiz stressed that the state attorney general, whoever he is, has always “questioned himself because he is appointed by a government”, which, however, he emphasizes, “is born from elections or a motion of censure” as is the case.
Concerning possible persecution, he assures that “the responsibility of the position must bear them”, since the State Attorney General’s Office deals with “very sensitive documents”. He even added that “if I wanted to harm a certain political spectrum” has “a lot of information” to do so. Of course, he emphasizes that he will “never” use it to “filter, say or insinuate” anything.
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