Spain's Attorney General denies charges over alleged leak of confidential information

Spain's top prosecutor has denied the charges against him in a Supreme Court case concerning an alleged breach of official secrecy.

Álvaro García Ortiz became the first sitting Attorney General ever to stand trial as proceedings got underway in Madrid on Monday.

Appointed by the government in 2022, García Ortiz is accused of leaking confidential information linked to an incident in March 2024.

Prosecutors allege he disclosed an email concerning Alberto González Amador, the partner of Isabel Díaz Ayuso, president of the Madrid region and a leading figure in the conservative People's Party (PP).

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."

The popular prosecutions involved in the case – including the Professional and Independent Association of Prosecutors (APIF) and far-right groups, such as Hazte Oír, Vox, and Manos Limpias – are seeking a prison sentence of up to six years for the Attorney General.

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

She believes law enforcement agents did an "undiscriminatory" seizure, which should be canceled. "Added to the fact that they violated García Ortiz's right of intimacy during the judicial case, and that there have been many violations of the right to have a fair trial, as it is established in the Spanish constitution," she added.

"His rights have not been granted and he has not been able to defend himself," Consuelo Castro, Spain's General Attorney's lawyer, said during her opening statement in the Supreme Court.

Castro believes that the presumption of innocence has been violated to "guide" the judicial case so that it only affects García Ortiz, while "third alternatives" were rejected. Based on the judicial case, the defendant believes that "the case started with the idea that the person under investigation was guilty, and the goal was to find the evidence that proved this."

Lawfare?

According to many experts, the case bears the hallmarks of political lawfare, as it involves Spain’s two main parties amid an atmosphere of intense political polarization, and is built on limited evidence.

"More than 20 people had access to those emails. It could have been any of them. But for reasons we still don't know, the investigating judge decided that García Ortiz was the main suspect," explains Josep Lluís Martí, a law professor at Pompeu Fabra University.

According to Martí, there is no strong evidence supporting the accusation, and the investigation mainly rests on the fact that García Ortiz deleted data from his mobile phone, something he claims is standard practice for someone in his position.

Around 40 witnesses are expected to appear, including prosecutors, journalists, politicians, lawyers, and police officers.

The testimonies of about ten journalists summoned to court will be crucial. "They have the right to remain silent and not disclose their sources, but they could also choose to do so," Martí explains.

If any journalist were to identify García Ortiz as the source, the case against him would gain weight.

However, so far, most journalists questioned during the investigation have refused to reveal their sources but have stated that the Attorney General was not among them.