"There will be no reductions in sentences for crimes of corruption", they affirm categorically in the Government and the leadership of the PSOE, in line with the commitment of Pedro Sánchez, before the proposal to reform the crime of embezzlement that this Friday will register ERC in Congress , as an amendment to the bill that will substitute sedition for the crime of aggravated public disorder.
Minister Félix Bolaños is negotiating with ERC the content of this amendment to perfectly define, from a legal point of view, the scope of the embezzlement reform, according to socialist sources. The text, they warn, is undergoing modifications until reaching its final wording. The Government seeks to carefully outline all legislative initiatives, given the expected resources of the right.
Another of Sánchez's claims is to achieve before the end of the year the unblocking of the renewal of the Constitutional Court (TC) due to the position of the conservative members of the General Council of the Judiciary (CGPJ). And for this, the PSOE will also register today an amendment to reform the organic law of the Judiciary and the TC, which will reduce the three-fifths majority of the CGPJ necessary to approve the appointments of the magistrates of the guarantee court. This is the formula with which the Government seeks to circumvent the current conservative veto on the renewal of the TC.
In Moncloa they remain rigorously silent, waiting for the final content of the amendment on the embezzlement reform to be revealed today. And in the leadership of the PSOE they prescribe "prudence", until the "news" that are expected to be incorporated are known, very aware of the caution, if not the frontal opposition, that a reform arouses in the socialist ranks themselves, which they fear will may affect a fight against corruption that they have as one of their hallmarks. And barely five months from the municipal and regional elections. Sánchez, however, is the first to ensure that this reform will not mean a "setback" in the fight against corruption.
Vice President Yolanda Díaz insisted yesterday on marking distances with the embezzlement reform. “I am clear. United We Can not formulate amendments with a criminal offense known as embezzlement ”, she settled in Brussels. The amendments that the PSOE in turn is negotiating with the purple formation seek to allay the concern of the unions because the new type of aggravated public disorder may affect the right to protest.
In the leadership of the PSOE, they already declared the ongoing repeal of the "obsolete" crime of sedition, for which the leaders of the process were convicted, among their own ranks, despite the opposition of two regional presidents, the Aragonese Javier Lambán. and the Castilian-Manchego Emiliano García Page, or the former President of the Government Felipe González. But a reform of the crime of embezzlement, which was also attributed to the pro-independence leaders, has not only been rejected by the previous ones, but also keeps other socialist presidents and territorial leaders on alert, from Ximo Puig from Valencia to Juan Lobato from Madrid or the Castilian and Leonese Luis Tudanca. In some socialist federations they admit that they are holding their breath, waiting to know and analyze in detail the content of the embezzlement amendment.
In Ferraz they call for calm, but some of these socialist leaders warn that the undesirable consequences of the application by some judges of the only yes is yes law, with a cascade of reductions in sentences for sexual offenders, is not the best precedent to address a review of embezzlement that may also have perverse results, beyond the alleged "dejudicialization" of the political conflict in Catalonia.
Esquerra did not reveal anything yesterday either, and assured that his intention is to exhaust the scheduled period, which expires this afternoon. The one who did move was Junts per Catalunya, which on Wednesday at the last minute went ahead of ERC and registered a package of amendments that also included one related to embezzlement, an unexpected fact since at all times they had kept to the expectation regarding that crime and had only demanded to modify the rebellion and repeal sedition with retroactive effect and without compensation or changes in public disorder.
JxCat wants to reverse the reform that the PP introduced in 2015, when it had an absolute majority, and expanded the type of embezzlement after the consultation on November 9, 2014 promoted by Artur Mas. The amendment proposes returning to the wording prior to said reform, so that there is no crime without personal or third-party profit.
"Attempting to soften the current wording by adding the profit requirement to maintain the sentence, or to reduce the sentence while maintaining the rest of the elements of the type, is to continue including among the crimes of corruption conduct that is not corrupt", they justify from Junts, that emphasize that the responsibility of the representatives "can only be political or accounting".
With this reform, complying with electoral programs that include independence or events such as promoting the 9-N consultation, for example, would not be a crime, explained the spokeswoman for JxCat in Madrid, Míriam Nogueras, in an interview with Efe. Among other measures, in addition to trying to put back on the table aspects that were already included in their alternative text to the modification of the Criminal Code, such as introducing the use of weapons as a requirement for the crime of rebellion, there is the repeal of several articles related to freedom of expression, such as offenses against religious denominations, Spain, its institutions and symbols, the exaltation of crimes of terrorism, or slander and insults to various State institutions, including the Crown.
Another amendment includes the repeal of article 384 bis of the Criminal Procedure Law, which facilitated the suspension of the prisoners of the process as deputies before there was a final sentence when they were prosecuted for rebellion, a fact that some jurists criticized, understanding that shouldn't apply. This is an article created ad hoc for ETA prisoners after one of them, Juan Carlos Yoldi, was able to attend a plenary session of the Basque Parliament in 1987.
