MADRID (Reuters) -Spain’s Supreme Court said on Thursday it found the country’s chief prosecutor guilty of leaking confidential information about a case involving a leading opposition figure’s partner, in a ruling that could dent public confidence in the legal system.
In an unprecedented decision against such a senior legal figure, Garcia Ortiz was disqualified from holding the office for two years and ordered to pay fines totalling 7,200 euros ($8,295), according to a court statement. Two out of seven judges dissented.
The decision is a blow to the Socialist government of Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez, who appointed Garcia Ortiz in 2022.
Sanchez’s government will respect the ruling but does not agree with it and will begin the process of naming a new chief prosecutor in the coming days, Justice Minister Felix Bolaños said.
“Disagreement with this ruling should not lead to widespread mistrust of institutions,” he said in a public televised statement.
The ruling was based on a tax fraud case involving Alberto Gonzalez Amador, the boyfriend of the leader of Madrid region – Isabel Diaz Ayuso, a prominent figure in the conservative opposition People’s Party (PP).
Testifying during the case, Garcia Ortiz denied accusations that he shared with the media the contents of an email exchange between prosecutors and Gonzalez Amador’s lawyer, in which the attorney proposed that his client admit two counts of tax fraud in a deal to avoid jail.
Gonzalez Amador later testified in court that he had no knowledge of any such deal.
The case has pitted Spain’s minority leftist government against the PP, which has criticised the government over several corruption cases.
PP lower house spokesperson Ester Muñoz said on X that Sanchez needed to apologise to Spaniards, resign and call a snap election.
The court also ordered Garcia Ortiz to pay 10,000 euros in compensation to Gonzalez Amador for moral damages.
Garcia Ortiz could still appeal for the Supreme Court to annul the judge’s ruling and bring the case before the Constitutional Court.
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(Reporting by David Latona and Emma Pinedo; writing by Charlie Devereux; Editing by Andrei Khalip and Andrew Heavens)
