The Prosecutor's Office opposes Laura Borràs's pardon and accuses her of presenting herself "as a victim of 'lawfare'"

BarcelonaThe Superior Prosecutor's Office of Catalonia has opposed pardoning the former president of the Parliament Laura Borràs, sentenced to four and a half years in prison and 13 years of disqualification for malfeasance and falsification of documents when he headed the Institution of Catalan Letters (ILC). Among other reasons, because Borràs's conviction is due to "an attitude of abuse of power" for favoring the economic benefit of a friend. "We are facing a crime that falls under the concept of administrative corruption and, therefore, hardly susceptible to benefiting from the right of pardon," says the prosecutor's report. It also reproaches him for claiming "without any shame, to have been the victim of judicial persecution" for his political ideas: "He presents himself as a victim of lawfare who has committed the crime with absolute abuse of authority and contempt for the law."

With this document, the Prosecutor's Office opposes both the total pardon - which the writer Margarida Aritzeta has requested - and the partial pardon proposed in the same ruling by the High Court of Justice of Catalonia (which resolve these two requests for pardons. The fact of proposing a pardon to reduce a "disproportionate or unjust" sentence is usually done when a conviction comes long after the crime and when "the resocializing or rehabilitative purpose is no longer strictly necessary." The case was being investigated and, under summary secrecy, he publicly said that the then Minister of the Interior, Miquel Buch had told her that she was not under investigation.This "represented a loss of confidence on the part of the investigating judge due to possible leaks" through the Mossos d'Esquadra (Catalan police), who were replaced by the Civil Guard, which had to re-examine the seized computer files.

Despite having publicly maintained that he would not ask for a pardon, in March Borràs He asked the TSJC to process it and submit it to the Spanish government, which is what must decide whether to grant it or not.The Prosecutor's Office has now issued a statement in the report released this Monday. The document, signed by prosecutor Assumpta Pujol, reviews international instruments and efforts to prevent and punish corruption, which "is perceived as an extraordinarily damaging phenomenon for society that endangers democracy itself." Furthermore, it notes that in Spain, only one partial pardon has been granted for the crime of malfeasance combined with falsification of documents: it was granted to José Luis Peñas Domingo, the whistleblower in the Gürtel scandal, who helped clarify the events.

Furthermore, the prosecutor says, one of the requirements for receiving a pardon is showing remorse. On the other hand, there has been "no behavior on the part of Borràs that would allow us to infer even the slightest acceptance" of the crime or a desire not to reoffend. "At no point has he accepted his responsibility, he does not acknowledge having acted outside the law, nor has he shown even the slightest sign of remorse," but on the contrary, the prosecutor reproaches.

After learning of the Prosecutor's position, some parties have already taken a position. The spokesperson for Junts, Josep Rius, expressed solidarity with Borràs: "It is one more episode of rebellion and fanaticism of the judiciary," he said at a press conference after the meeting of the party's permanent committee. Rius expressed his "rejection" of the Prosecutor's decision and reiterated that it is a "case of lawfare "by the book." For his part, the spokesperson for Comuns in the Parliament, David Cid, asserted that this case "is not comparable to that of other pro-independence leaders" and that it is "linked to corruption," but he declined to comment on a decision that, if successful, could lead to the former leader being sent to prison.