The Supreme Court prosecutor denies pressure in the 'Tsunami case': “I did not receive even the slightest suggestion from the attorney general”

The prosecutor of the Supreme Court Álvaro Redondo has denied this Monday any type of pressure from the State Attorney General to decide whether or not to accuse the former Catalan president Carles Puigdemont of terrorism within the

Democratic Tsunami case,

in which the protests in 2019 are being investigated. against the sentence of the

process.

“I deny having received any instructions from the attorney general in relation to this matter.

I reiterate: I did not receive, not just an instruction, but even a minimal suggestion from the State Attorney General regarding the legal position that he should assume,” he released in a statement.

Prosecutor Redondo explains in the letter what his steps were to decide that the facts “provisionally do not seem to have the objective elements of a crime of terrorism,” and has vindicated his 46-year career in the service of law “without accepting any pressure from anyone.” ”.

“This will continue to be my only criterion for action,” he said.

The State Attorney General, Álvaro García Ortiz, has also denied that he has pressured Redondo, or any other prosecutor, and has announced through another statement a formal request to the media that have disseminated information about the alleged pressure "so that rectify immediately”, without prejudice to taking other actions.

Prosecutor Redondo must rule on this case after the judge of the National Court Manuel García-Castellón has requested the Supreme Court to assume the part of the investigation that refers to two certified persons: Puigdemont, due to his status as a MEP, and Ruben Wagensberg, member of the Parliament.

The decision made by the Supreme Court on this matter could be key in the processing of the amnesty law and in the negotiations between the PSOE and Junts on the text of the law.

In fact, some of Judge García-Castellón's writings have already conditioned the drafting of the law, which was defeated in the first vote of Congress due to Junts' demand to amnesty all terrorist crimes without exception, an extreme to which opposes the PSOE.

In response to information that has indicated that the prosecutor saw terrorism in the events involving Puigdemont and changed his opinion after meeting with the attorney general, Redondo assures that he wrote his draft “several days before” it was received “in a short hearing.” by the attorney general, something that appears, in his words, in his “computer system.”

In a two-page document, Redondo, prosecutor of the criminal chamber of the high court, reports that he received the assignment on this matter on January 23 and that he wrote “a first internal draft,” as a working document, without the character of procedural document.

He goes on to say that several days later he prepared a draft presentation for the board of prosecutors, in which he specified the position he was going to maintain: “The facts did not specifically constitute a crime of terrorism.”

Alvaro Redondo

Alvaro Redondo

His story continues saying that on January 30 he met in a hearing with the State Attorney General and that he “briefly” told him the meaning of the draft of the presentation.

"He acknowledged this verbally, without giving me any instructions, and did not consider it necessary to receive, as I offered him, and it was completely appropriate, even a copy of said draft," he adds.

That same day, according to the prosecutor, he informed “some colleagues” who were at the regular weekly meeting of the criminal section of the Supreme Prosecutor's Office that his “legal impression” did not coincide with that of Judge García Castellón “on said point,” since, in the words of Redondo, “the facts do not seem to cover the objective elements of a crime of terrorism.”

Once he knew that the matter was going to be discussed at the meeting on Tuesday, the 6th, Redondo assures that he sent the draft by official email to the board's prosecutors, “as is usually done in cases of legal extension or complexity.”

“My only criterion for action is and has always been the strictest application of the law and the promotion of justice, from the most absolute impartiality and without accepting any pressure from anyone, acting in defense of the law, and also rigorously complying with the ethical principles that should guide the actions of judges.

And this will continue to be my only criterion for action,” he points out.

The statements from the Supreme Court prosecutor and the State Attorney General's Office were issued at noon, practically simultaneously.

The text signed by García Ortiz, barely half a page long, also "flatly" denies the information that attributes influence to him over Redondo's decision.

“The Attorney General also categorically rejects any suggestion that questions the professionalism and honorability of the two prosecutors who, both in the National Court and in the Supreme Court, have reported on this case,” he adds.

The State Attorney General's Office demands a rectification of this information “in defense of the institution and its members and the fundamental right to receive truthful information,” without prejudice to being able to undertake other actions that may be appropriate.

To read the complete press release from prosecutor Álvaro Redondo, click

here

.