By an overwhelming majority, the prosecutors of the Supreme Court who formed the Board yesterday clearly saw that there are indications to investigate those responsible for Democratic Tsunami for terrorism, and among them the former Catalan president Carles Puigdemont.
By twelve votes against three they overturned the report that had been made by the prosecutor assigned to the case and that opposed the investigation opened by the judge of the National Court Manuel García-Castellón. A contrary thesis, therefore, to that defended by Pedro Sánchez, who asserts that "Catalan independence is not terrorism".
In view of the decision of the Supreme Court prosecutors, the Central Government warned yesterday that the Prosecutor's Office has the last word, although it is not yet clear what the final criterion will be.
This affair has undergone several twists and turns, amid the tension experienced by the Amnesty law and the exception in some cases of terrorism, which has precisely caused Junts to vote against the text in Congress. The instructor investigating Democratic Tsunami, a platform born to protest the sentence of the process, asked the Supreme Court to take over the investigation against Puigdemont and a dozen other people, since the former was covered by his current status as an MEP .
The Prosecutor's Office of the National Court has been saying for months that there is neither terrorism nor evidence against the Junts leader in this matter. Even so, it had to be a prosecutor from the High Court who sent his own report, previously seen by the Board of Prosecutors. The designated prosecutor, Álvaro Redondo, first believed that there was terrorism, but after analyzing the case in depth he understood that there were no crimes serious enough to make such a consideration. Some of his colleagues believe that he was influenced by the Attorney General of the State, Álvaro García. Both have publicly denied it.
It was already known in advance that this affair would lead to a tail. Normally, the review of reports by the Board is a simple procedure. But in this case, from the Attorney General's Office it was known that spirits were running high. The proof was that the majority spoke in favor of García-Castellón's thesis. They assessed that the report delivered by Redondo did not take into account the possibility that during the riots at El Prat airport on October 14, 2019, the illegal detention of the air traffic controllers, who was prevented from accessing their workplaces, nor the death of a tourist due to natural causes when leaving the airport.
They also understood that there are enough indications for the Supreme Court to open an investigation into Puigdemont.
They are based on the fact that the former president of the Generalitat went to the founding meeting of Tsunami that was held in Geneva, on the telephone interventions in which he is consulted on strategic issues, and they also take into account a recording in which Puigdemont he assures that if there were deaths, it would mean a defeat.
However, the new criterion of the Board of Fiscals is not the final one. At the meeting there were two heads of the Criminal Chamber of the High Court, and each with a different criterion.
This means that article 24 of the Fiscal Statute had to be invoked, so that it is a hierarchical superior who makes the final report. This superior is the lieutenant prosecutor of the Supreme Court and number two of the State Attorney General's Office, María de los Ángeles Sánchez Conde. His position will be the one that is sent to the Criminal Chamber of the High Court, presided over by Manuel Marchena, and that it does not have to go through the Board again. Fiscal sources clarify that their position does not have to be in agreement with the majority criterion.
In the Board there are members who fear that the lieutenant prosecutor will receive some instruction from Álvaro García to align with the theses of the central government. The Attorney General's Office has categorically denied that any order or instruction has been given on this matter.
The majority decision of the Supreme Court prosecutors, in any case, did not surprise the Spanish Government, which warned that this position is not binding and that, in the last resort, the final decision will correspond to the State Attorney General's Office.
The spokeswoman for the Central Executive, Pilar Alegría, emphasized that the prosecutor in charge of the case, whose report was analyzed by the Board, "understands that there is no terrorism in the cause of Democratic Tsunami", with reference to the report Álvaro Redondo's preliminary report on the case that García-Castellón is investigating.
Both the spokeswoman for the Spanish Government and the Minister of the Presidency and Justice, Félix Bolaños, showed "respect" following the "legal debate" at the Board, with "absolute institutional and democratic normality". Just as they assured that they will respect "the final decision adopted by the fiscal ministry and the courts".
"The final decision is there and it belongs to whoever has it", indicated sources from the Executive, with reference to the Attorney General of the State. They allege to the Spanish Government that it will be a "hierarchical decision", and reaffirm Sánchez's position in the face of García-Castellón's criteria: "Catalan independence is not terrorism".
