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Álvaro García Ortiz, the prosecutor chosen by the Government to head the State Attorney General’s Office after the resignation of Dolores Delgado for health reasons, took advantage of his appearance this Thursday before the Justice Commission of the Congress of Deputies to defend himself against all ” insinuations, lies and falsehoods” that, according to him, have been said about his figure since his election became known. In the parliamentary procedure necessary before his formal election, García Ortiz has responded to the harsh accusations of “lack of impartiality” that the right-wing PP, Vox and Ciudadanos have launched at him, but he has dedicated himself especially to charging against the seven members of the General Council of the Judiciary (CGPJ) who cast individual votes against his suitability, which was widely supported by that body.
Seven conservative members of the CGPJ criticize the new attorney general with the same arguments as the PP
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“I have felt in a court of honor reading the particular vote”, assured García Ortiz, who has appeared before the Lower House for almost three hours. “I have not had the opportunity to say anything”, he has denounced, before some “expressions” of those seven magistrates “difficult to accept”. He has also said that he has “crossed a red line”. In particular, the candidate for attorney general has criticized the inconcretions of these theses and, specifically, the accusation of not having properly carried out his work as chief prosecutor of the Technical Secretariat of the State Attorney General’s Office, the position he continues to hold in duties until appointed.
With documents, García Ortiz has shown that, in the exercise of that position, he has issued several circulars that can be consulted in the Official State Gazette and in the Prosecutor’s Report and, therefore, has accused PP and Vox, which They had reproached him for this lack of action, as happens in private votes, for resorting to “unreliable” sources to support his arguments.
The magistrate also wanted to defend his presence as a tax expert at a round table organized by the PSOE of Galicia, in 2019, on forest fires. University professors and economists also sat down at the event, and it addressed technical issues related to fire prevention. The popular and their related media came to say in recent days that Ortiz, a regular at this type of event, had participated in a socialist rally.
The inspection authorized him to go to a table organized by the PSOE
“I understand that my presence at a PSOE act annoys the PP”, García Ortiz assured in his appearance in Congress. “If in 22 years participating in an act in which the PSOE logo was seen means that I cannot be Attorney General, we are talking about something else”, he has denounced. “It is a pride that they call a prosecutor to talk about the fires”, he has pointed out, recalling one of the areas in which he worked the most during his time in the Galician courts. He has also been “proud that civil society sues prosecutors” for participating in such acts.
Next, and after the insinuations of the PP, which has gone so far as to say that such participation could violate the law, García Ortiz wanted to make it clear that, before going to that round table, he asked for “permission” from the tax inspectorate and that it was “expressly authorized” to attend.
The candidate for attorney general has also referred to the cover of the ABC newspaper, which pointed out that he would have met secretly in a hotel in Madrid with the former Andorran banker who accuses the Government of Mariano Rajoy of having blackmailed him, through Ministry officials. of the Interior, to provide him with information against Catalan separatists.
“I have never been to that hotel, I have never had lunch with that person and I do not know anyone from the personality’s environment,” he stressed. “The accusation is false. The editorial is inappropriate and false ”, she has insisted. That is why he has explained that, after initiating the “rectification action” before the aforementioned newspaper and not having received a response, he will exercise “through the State Lawyer” the “pertinent legal actions” against the Grupo Vocento newspaper.
Another of the actions that have been criticized in recent days is a meeting between Dolores Delgado and the director of ok diary, Eduardo Inda, which was also attended by García Ortiz. “The attorney general met with different media and also with Mr. Eduardo Inda in circumstances that everyone knows. General issues and generalities were discussed, nothing about the freedom of Mr. Villarejo ”, he wanted to qualify, given the insinuations known after learning that he was a candidate to lead the Public Ministry.
Extend the “autonomy” of prosecutors
García Ortiz, likewise, has responded to those who have accused him of wanting to impose a doctrine in the National High Court so that the murder of Miguel Ángel Blanco by ETA in 1997 is considered as prescribed, so that the alleged perpetrators are not tried. intellectuals of this terrorist crime. “There is no prescription instruction,” he has said. “The prescription thesis was carried out by one of the prosecutors of the National High Court, and that thesis will be taken to the courtroom prosecutors’ board and it will decide what the criterion is regarding the prescription of crimes,” he clarified.
During the intervention of the groups, García Ortiz has heard all kinds of accusations by PP, Vox and Ciudadanos. The spokesman for the latter party, Edmundo Bal, has considered “regrettable that the Government does not find a person to be attorney general and, at least, appear impartial, neutral, independent and in favor of independence.” “You don’t have that image,” he told the candidate.
Even harsher, the representative of the PP, Luis Santamaría, who has assured that García Ortiz “should not occupy” the position for which he is a candidate for having been “the right hand, left hand and alter ego of Dolores Delgado.” “They have been the protagonists of one of the darkest stages of democracy”, he has snapped at him, in addition to qualifying him as “an attorney general of the Government instead of the State”. “You do not meet any of the requirements,” he has told him, in addition to calling him “Delgado’s clone” and accusing him of being “a prosecutor at the service of Sánchez’s power.”
From Vox, Javier Ortega Smith has referred to the new attorney general as “Pedro Sánchez’s candidate” and “goddessed by prosecutor Dolores Delgado.” “You lack any requirement of impartiality and the minimum suitability that a state attorney general should have,” he concluded.
In his initial speech, García Ortiz had shown his willingness to be “everyone’s attorney general regardless of his affiliation, if any,” in addition to his intention to expand the “autonomy” of prosecutors. “My purpose is to reform and improve this system of decision-making and judgment formation of the Public Prosecutor’s Office to guarantee the personal and individual autonomy of prosecutors,” he concluded.
