Spain: Attorney General on trial
Spain's top prosecutor, Attorney General Álvaro García Ortiz, is on trial before the Supreme Court over allegations of leaking an email to the media which implicates Alberto González Amador, the partner of the president of the Community of Madrid Isabel Díaz Ayuso (PP), in tax fraud. García Ortiz, who was appointed by the Sánchez government in 2022, is suspected of using his office to harm an opponent of the ruling PSOE party.
PM's hands are dirty
ABC blames Pedro Sánchez:
“The current scenario is unprecedented for a European democracy, the result of the behaviour of someone who didn't have the decency to resign and is willing to see the entire public prosecutor's office humiliated. ... García Ortiz has done everything possible to make himself look suspicious: he demanded to see the González Amador file and leaked it to a radio station shortly afterwards, then deleted messages and emails when he saw his indictment coming. ... This is not the kind of behaviour one expects from an attorney general. ... Ultimately, it is not García Ortiz who is responsible for his being allowed to remain in office, but the person he serves: the prime minister. ... Pedro Sánchez has shown that he has no qualms about manipulating and exploiting people for his own benefit.”
A political and institutional earthquake
El Periódico de Catalunya accuses the government of disregarding the separation of powers:
“For the first time in the history of our democracy, a chief prosecutor is sitting in the dock. This is an unprecedented case that places the head of the public prosecutor's office at the centre of a political and institutional earthquake, which the government itself has exacerbated by sticking with García Ortiz. ... The government has described the case as party-political persecution, confusing public interest with personal interest and disregarding the separation of powers. That is why the case is not just a criminal trial, but an unprecedented test for the institutions.”
Disastrous for the judiciary's image
La Vanguardia's deputy editor-in-chief Lola García finds the whole affair shocking:
“This may seem like a trifling matter. After all, we journalists publish information every day thanks to leaks, including those from judges and prosecutors. ... But we should not conclude from this that the accusations against the attorney general are trivial. ... Revealing a person's data is a serious matter, especially in the case of a high-level institution. ... But many political interests converge in this trial. ... The Supreme Court is facing a challenge. And whether this trial ends in a conviction or an acquittal, the result is disastrous for the reputation of the judiciary as a whole.”