The increasing tension generated by the negotiations to amnesty those responsible for the process is becoming palpable in political and judicial statements. Institutional respect is one step away from being blown up. In fact, the European Commissioner for Justice, Didier Reynders, took action yesterday to ask the Government of Spain for information on the amnesty in the face of suspicions about a possible attack on the rule of law. The Government already made it clear yesterday that it is not willing to give explanations in the minute of stoppage time to close the agreement with Junts to sign the bill.
The Minister of the Presidency, Félix Bolaños, was blunt when reminding him that the Government is in office and the presentation of a future law depends on the parliamentary groups. He also took the opportunity to throw a dart at him to make him worry about the General Council of the Judiciary (CGPJ), in office for almost five years due to the PP's refusal to renew the body.
Another proof of the head-on collision that is being experienced these days were the statements of the acting Secretary of State for Justice, Tontxu Rodríguez, who fully criticized the judge of the National Court Manuel García-Castellón, instructor of the Democratic Tsunami case.
Pilar Llop's number two gave an interview to Radio Popular-Herri Irratia in which he took direct aim at the magistrate, whom he accused of spending several years abroad "getting paid a lot of money." Manuel García-Castellón was a liaison judge in Paris and Rome during the governments of José María Aznar (PP), José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero (PSOE) and Mariano Rajoy (PP) until he returned again to the National Court in 2017.
“Aznar could tell how this judge was pardoned and how he lived for a few years in Europe. Aznar recovered him and brought him back to Spain,” snapped the Secretary of State for Justice.
In this interview, Rodríguez commented on the order issued this Monday in which he opened an investigation into the former president of the Generalitat Carles Puigdemont for the crime of terrorism for his connection with Tsunami Democràtic, the platform that organized the altercations in Catalonia after the sentencing of the procés in October 2019. “What a coincidence, right? A few days before reaching an agreement with Junts and days after the agreement with ERC,” Rodríguez emphasized, underlining the name of García-Castellón.
“What a coincidence that they now accuse the Catalan leaders. I have no idea if he is right or wrong but what a coincidence that it is this day, right in the middle of the negotiations. If this is not influencing, let God come and see it,” he concluded.
From the side of the law negotiators, they saw García-Castellón's movement as an attempt to try to stop the amnesty for Puigdemont. Even the Prosecutor's Office itself does not understand the time or content of the order. Now, legal sources defend that the judge is acting within the legal framework in the face of an obvious attempt to shelve all investigations in exchange for the investiture of Pedro Sánchez.
This week, the judiciary has adopted several decisions that have been interpreted by the PSOE and the pro-independence parties as judicial interference in political negotiations. From the institutional declaration of the General Council of the Judiciary (CGPJ) to the statement of the majority Professional Association of the Judiciary (APM) they are warning of the serious danger to democracy and the separation of powers that will end with the separation of powers. Socialist sources see in all these actions a movement led by PP satellites to boycott Sánchez's investiture.
Hence, in a similar vein, Rodríguez described as “squatters” the members of the body of judges in office for five years, after this Monday they approved an institutional declaration in which it was stated that the amnesty would mean the “degradation , if not the abolition, of the rule of law in Spain.”
Specifically, Rodríguez referred to the conservative bloc of the judges' body, which he described as a “judicial party” due to its politicization. “Out of decency they should resign. "They no longer represent the judiciary," while he reproached them for having questioned a law that has not yet been approved. “Before seeing the text you cannot criticize, unless you are Rapel. “This cowardly right-wing agent may now be visionaries,” he concluded.
In parallel, the acting president of the CGPJ, Vicente Guilarte, has tried to place himself in a middle ground within the clash between the judicial and political powers as a result of the negotiations between the PSOE and the pro-independence parties for the amnesty.
In his argument as to why he voted blank in the plenary session on Monday for an institutional declaration, the first thing he did was show his “deep concern” for the law that is intended to be approved.
However, he considers that until there is a formal law proposal, the CGPJ should have refrained from expressing its opinion to avoid bidirectional interference between powers and, therefore, the body, in its opinion, should avoid interfering in political activity.
