The third vice president and minister for the Ecological Transition and the Demographic Challenge, Teresa Ribera, questioned this Friday the judge of the National Court Manuel García-Castellón, who she said has a “desire” to act “in sensitive political moments.” in reference to the magistrate’s orders in the Democratic Tsunami case, in which he accuses the leader of Junts, Carles Puigdemont, and the leader of ERC, Marta Rovira, of terrorism. Ribera added, during an interview on TVE, that the judge usually “inclines” his decisions “always in the same direction” and that he discloses them “at opportune moments, with important political implication”, as he did when last November the Government and the Catalan independence parties were negotiating an amnesty for the leaders of the process.
The PP considers it “extremely serious” that the vice president suggests that the judge is prevaricating, and has announced that it will fail her in the Senate. Government sources have qualified the minister’s words and have shown their respect for the Judiciary and the separation of powers, ensuring that the Executive will always defend the judges once morest any interference, although they have only cited among these alleged interferences those carried out by “the PP”. In the followingnoon, the Minister of Transport, Óscar Puente, supported Ribera, rejected the idea that his words amounted to an attack on the judges and stated, along the same lines as her, that the Government has “a lot of respect for the judges.” despite “certain temporary decisions that draw attention.” “On this last case [de García-Castellón] These are events from 2019 and it is striking that every time there is a public debate on these issues [la amnistía] a judge’s resolution is produced.”
Ribera, who this weekend joins the PSOE leadership as a member of the socialist executive, has been especially harsh with Judge García-Castellón, who the day before had issued an order in which he stated that the signs of terrorism once morest Puigdemont and Rovira are consolidating. The Prosecutor’s Office opposes this classification and only sees a crime of aggravated public disorder in the independence riots promoted by Tsunami Democràtic following the sentencing of the leaders of the process in 2019.
Minister Ribera’s statements occurred on the program La Hora de la 1, on TVE. After insisting that the work of the judges must be respected, she said: “I would be very cautious regarding the way in which this judge is speaking, who, as I say, has accustomed us to always leaning in this same direction.” , which obviously has an important political implication and usually comes up at sensitive political moments.”
The vice president added that “some people” in the Judiciary “have a certain desire to always speak in the same direction and at a particularly opportune moment compared to what otherwise tend to be the pronouncements of other colleagues within the exercise of that Judiciary.” ”.
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”Are you doubting that the judge can be guided by political criteria?” journalist Silvia Intxaurrondo then asked him. ”The newspaper archive shows that [García-Castellón] He is always very correct in the dates and in the sensitivity of the dates where these statements come out, but it is his task (…)”, responded the vice president.
”As you have described it, it seems like a clear case of lawfare [persecución judicial con fines políticos]”, insisted the driver of The time of 1 Marc Sala. Ribera has reiterated: “I believe that it is essential to understand that not only the exercise of judicial power matters, but also the form and motivations in the exercise of judicial power, and this corresponds to all magistrates. The opportunity assessment of when this information comes out is also relevant.”
A vice president accusing a magistrate of prevarication.
The government’s attack on the division of powers and the defense of independent politicians at the expense of our rule of law continues to escalate: https://t.co/Z3mDmshk2T— Borja Sémper (@bsemper) January 19, 2024
The minister’s words have generated an immediate reaction from the PP: “A vice president accusing a magistrate of prevarication. The Government’s attack on the division of powers and the defense of politicians independent at the expense of our rule of law it continues to escalate,” said popular spokesperson Borja Sémper on the social network Junts: that is, that pro-independence politicians are victims of judicial persecution.
Sémper has stressed, in this sense, that Marta Vilalta, spokesperson for ERC, has also joined Ribera’s statements on TVE to criticize Judge García-Castellón. “Same as the Government of Spain, same accusation of prevarication once morest a judge,” the PP leader wrote in There is a political obsession of a judge (…) There are coincidences that are very suspicious.” Vilalta has also considered that “it is no coincidence that in parallel [a las negociaciones de la amnistía] this judge accuses him of terrorism, when the only thing he had [en las protestas] “It was the exercise of fundamental rights, mobilizations, protests…”
Miguel Tellado, parliamentary spokesperson for the Popular Party, has asked the Minister of Justice, Félix Bolaños, if Ribera’s statements amount to “defending the judges.” It is regrettable that the Government of Spain assumes as its own the arguments of Otegi and Puigdemont once morest our rule of law,” he wrote in X. The PP maintain that Ribera “gives voice to those who say that in Spain there are lawfare [persecución judicial por motivos políticos]” and recites “the independence argument.” “We demand an end to the attacks on Spanish judges by the independentists, but, above all and also, by the Government,” claim PP sources. Finally, the popular ones have announced that they will disapprove Ribera in the Senate, where they have an absolute majority. They will also request his appearance.
Moments following Ribera’s words, the former president of the Government José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero has shown himself to be cautious regarding the judicial proceedings. During an informative breakfast in Madrid, he stated: “I have always said that chance is more likely than conspiracy, but each person has their own very personal judgment. We must get used to the institutions and the system, each one knowing how to be in their place.” And he added: “Fortunately we have an institution, which is Parliament, where we are going to talk because there are commissions of investigation into everything that has happened in the action towards the independentists. […] and let us trust that the functioning of Parliament will give us positive results. “I think we must administer it with a certain tranquility, with a certain calm, because it is a debate that is going to last.”
Government sources have expressed “the institutional respect” of the Executive for the Judiciary, for the separation of powers and for the decisions of the judges, although some of them do not share them. These sources recall, however, that the Prosecutor’s Office disagrees with García-Castellón in the classification of terrorism in the caso Tsunami. And they maintain that in Spain there is “a clear example” of “interventionism” in the Judiciary: “The kidnapping to which the PP is subjecting the General Council of the Judiciary, blocking its renewal for more than five years.”
Protest by judicial associations
The Professional Association of the Judiciary (APM), with a conservative profile and majority in the race, has issued a statement in which it harshly censures Minister Ribera’s words. “It is not acceptable in a rule of law for a member of the Executive (…) to covertly accuse a judge of prevaricating; It causes us enormous sadness, although nothing surprises us anymore, that the Government itself assumes the discourse of those who talk regarding lawfare and judicialization of politics,” reads the note. The APM considers “unacceptable” this “permanent attack on judicial independence” by those who have “the highest political responsibilities.”
The Francisco de Vitoria Judicial Association (AJFV), with a moderate profile, has also responded to the minister. “It is inexplicable at this point that a member of the Government seems to be unaware of how justice works,” protested Luis Ortiz Vigil, from the national committee of this entity. “Spain is a rule of law. “We demand respect from the Executive branch, because with comments like this you are only harming the country.”
