The partners of the central government, PSOE and Unidas Podemos, will negotiate with Esquerra until Monday, when the amendments to the reform of the Penal Code are voted in a commission of the Congress of Deputies. His intention is to delimit the changes proposed by the Republicans in the crime of embezzlement, fearing that this revision that they advocate could lead officials and elected officials to avoid convictions for embezzlement.
The ERC proposal, the result of conversations between the Republicans and Moncloa, with Minister Félix Bolaños at the helm, was registered yesterday, hours before the deadlines for the parliamentary process expired and without there being a definitive agreement, according to sources. of Esqierra and of the socialists. However, in the formation of Oriol Junqueras they trust that there will be white smoke and that their amendments will be negotiated with the members of the central Executive.
At first, the PSOE replied that they have not yet studied the Republican amendments, but they made it clear that they will not support "anything that implies a decriminalization of the improper use of public funds," or benefits for those convicted of corruption. In this last aspect, all the actors involved agree.
For now, Esquerra is trying to strike a balance and a fine bobbin lace with his amendments, so that the preparations for the 1-O referendum are not punishable for the crime of embezzlement, and at the same time that no one convicted of corruption benefits from the changes that they promote.
On Monday his proposal to modify the crime of embezzlement will undergo a first cotton test in a commission and it will be seen if the second phase of the so-called de-judicialization goes ahead; the first, related to the repeal of sedition, began its journey at the beginning of November. If the amendments prosper the day after tomorrow, the reform must go through the final sieve of the plenary session of the Lower House.
Grosso modo, the republican formation tries to recover the text of the crime of embezzlement that was in force from 1995 to 2004, although they maintain the range of penalties that the PP introduced in 2015, in the reform that it approved when it had an absolute majority, after of the consultation of 9-N.
Junqueras's party assures that if his amendment goes ahead, it will favor the prisoners of 1-O and that all those who have not yet been tried by the referendum will also avoid jail, including Carles Puigdemont and those who held high government positions. The squaring of the circle is that no one convicted of corruption benefits. However, in ERC they also admit that the judges will have the last word when interpreting the legal changes.
The Republicans want to reintroduce the desire for personal or third-party profit as a condition for public officials and authorities to commit a crime of embezzlement, and that "they stop talking about vague and subjective behaviors such as misappropriation and unfair administration, that belong to the private sphere”.
In addition, they advocate recovering an article that was eliminated in 2015 regarding those "who, without the intention of appropriating it, allocate the public assets placed in their charge for private uses and unrelated to the public function by reason of their functions or on the occasion of the same". That guy did not have prison terms before, although now they are committed to punishing him with sentences of between six months and three years in prison.
Some people interpret that last point as a reduction in non-profit embezzlement and that it could be applied to the leaders of the process, but ERC sources point out that an attempt has already been made to prosecute Artur Mas in the Superior Court of Justice of Catalonia for the consultation of 9-N with that typification and that was discarded. They argue that it refers to the use of public resources, such as the official car, for private purposes.
"Nobody used public assets for private uses on 1-O," add the Republicans. They also affirm that their objective is "to prevent the State from using the crime of embezzlement again arbitrarily to persecute the independence movement." In a similar vein, Junts advocates recovering the 2004 draft in its entirety and annulling the 2015 popular reform. In ERC they recognize that the meaning is the same, but they have not clarified what they will vote for.
The PDECat, for its part, also registered its own amendments so that when there is no profit motive (either its own or for a third party), the penalties are lower both in the case of prison (from one to three years) and those of disqualification (from three to six years). However, the current sentences are maintained for those cases in which the profit motive of the authority or public official or third party is appreciated. "We propose to introduce a clear differentiation between these two realities that cannot have the same criminal reproach", said the deputy Genís Boadella.
Neither the PSOE nor Unidas Podemos introduced yesterday any amendment to the current penal reform referring to the crime of embezzlement. But both Patxi López and Salvador Illa as well as Jaume Asens and Pablo Echenique emphasized the hardening of the fight against political corruption and progress in democratic regeneration which, in their opinion, will mean the new crime of illicit enrichment that they propose. And they take it for granted that it will have the support of a broad parliamentary absolute majority for its approval.
The initiative is proof, according to the proponent groups, that they will not allow any setback in the fight against corruption in the face of a reform of the crime of embezzlement.
This newly created criminal type of illicit enrichment will punish public officials whose assets increase by more than 250,000 euros, without justification, during the performance of their duties, with up to three years in jail. It also contemplates disqualification from public office for up to seven years, as well as a fine of up to three times the irregular benefit obtained.
"In this way, Spain will be among the most advanced countries in the fight against corruption, such as France, Portugal or Luxembourg," warned the socialist spokesman, Patxi López.
"We never want to see a public official who benefits from illegal and unjustifiable enrichment without this having any explanation or consequence," said the socialist leader.
This proposal to reform the Criminal Code implicitly targets the mayoress of Marbella and PP senator, Ángeles Muñoz, whose assets, according to the opposition, have increased by 12 million euros in just three years. The spokesman for Podemos, Pablo Echenique, admitted that this would be a "paradigmatic case" on which the new criminal offense would act.
Socialist sources denounce, in this sense, that "the mayoress of Marbella is taking it raw without anything happening, and this cannot be."
The other changes that there will almost certainly be in the Criminal Code are related to the repeal of sedition, modifications in the crime of public disorder, changes to try to force the renewal of the Constitutional Court and circumvent the blockade of the conservative majority or to increase the penalties for employers who repeatedly do not respect the labor rights of workers.
