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Spain’s Supreme Court on Tuesday rejected an appeal by the nation’s top prosecutor, Alvaro Garcia Ortiz, meaning he will now stand trial for allegedly breaching judicial secrecy.
This development marks another setback for Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez’s government.
Ortiz is accused of leaking confidential case files related to Alberto Gonzalez Amador, the partner of influential conservative Madrid leader Isabel Diaz Ayuso.
The conservative opposition Popular Party (PP) has claimed that allies of Sanchez orchestrated the leak to undermine Diaz Ayuso, a prominent figure on the Spanish right.
The investigation into Ortiz began in October last year following a complaint from Gonzalez Amador, a businessman whose health company’s earnings surged during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Spanish media last year published a draft plea deal from Gonzalez Amador’s lawyer, reportedly proposing that his client admit to alleged tax fraud in exchange for avoiding a criminal trial and jail time.
Ortiz, appointed by Sanchez’s government in 2022, has denied personally leaking any information or doing so through his office.
However, the Supreme Court stated that “the evidence gathered during the investigation… is sufficient to proceed with an accusation related to the investigated events.”
The court’s ruling asserted that the leaking of confidential communications about Amador’s case “was an act coordinated and promoted personally” by Ortiz.
In response, the PP has renewed calls for Ortiz’s resignation, with party leader Alberto Nunez Feijoo posting on X, “Whoever sits in the dock cannot prosecute crimes.”
This case adds to the legal challenges facing Sanchez’s minority left-wing coalition, which is also embroiled in separate corruption investigations involving Sanchez’s wife, brother, and former high-ranking Socialist figures.
