Supreme Court condemns Spain's Attorney General for revelation of secrets

The Spanish Supreme Court has condemned the Attorney General, Álvaro García Ortiz, for revealing secrets, as announced on Thursday.

He has been barred from holding public office for two years and been given a €20 daily fine for one year.

García Ortiz will also have to pay €10,000 to González Amador, the partner of Madrid's regional president Isabel Díaz Ayuso, and pay for the trial expenses.

A majority found García Ortiz guilty, though progressive judges Ana María Ferrer and Susana Polpo rejected the claims.

The Attorney General had denied disclosing an email during his testimony at the Supreme Court last week, where he said, "Truth does not leak, truth is defended."

The email exchange between Spain's public prosecution office and the lawyer of businessperson Alberto González Amador said that a tax evasion crime had occurred and they were negotiating regarding a potential agreement.

During the first day of the trial, on November 3, after hearing the charges and the penalties requested by the private prosecution, the presiding judge, Andrés Martínez Arrieta, asked the Attorney General whether he admitted to the facts as described. García Ortiz replied: "No."

García Ortiz's lawyer, Consuelo Castro, criticized the judicial case and said he regretted that the police confiscated all documents, phones, and computers, although they were initially asked to seize only some information.

Spanish government

The Spanish government said it "respects but does not share" the Supreme Court's decision. 

Authorities have announced that "in the upcoming days," they will start the process to name a new Attorney General, who will be a "person of the utmost professional prestige."

As the ruling bans García Ortiz from holding public office, the deputy Attorney General, María Ángeles Sánchez Conde, will take over.

The People's Party leader and head of the opposition in Congress, Alberto Núñez Feijóo, said that "for the first time in democracy, a Spanish Attorney General has been sentenced while in office."

Feijóo wrote on social media that the "anomaly will be a burden for Spanish PM Pedro Sánchez." Other members of the People's Party called for elections and for Sánchez to step down.