Who's who in the Attorney General's trial

MadridThe Supreme Court will host the hearings in the next two weeks. one of the trials with which the PP and Vox want to corner Pedro Sánchez And it will be a staged clash between the right wing and the Moncloa Palace (the Prime Minister's residence). It's not the culmination of any investigations into his personal life, but rather the case used by conservatives to illustrate that the "institutional degradation" they blame on the Socialist leader has reached unprecedented levels in Spanish democracy. The situation that will unfold starting Monday in the Supreme Court is truly unprecedented. It will be the first time a sitting Attorney General has been in the dock. The future of Álvaro García Ortiz, who was appointed directly by the Spanish government, will be defined by the six sessions of the trial for revealing secrets. It remains to be seen whether it can be determined if he was the one who leaked the email containing confidential information about Alberto González Amador, Isabel Díaz Ayuso's boyfriend, to the press. Aside from the potential political consequences of a conviction, the Attorney General faces up to six years in prison. Let's take a look at who's who in this trial.

The court

The decision regarding the Attorney General's fate rests with a conservative-majority panel of seven Supreme Court justices from the Criminal Chamber. The panel will be presided over by Andrés Martínez Arrieta, who, in addition to presiding over this panel, is also the president of the Criminal Chamber and its most senior member. Susana Polo will be the judge drafting the ruling. Two other women will be on the bench. One is Ana Ferrer, who ran against Martínez Arrieta for the presidency of the Criminal Chamber with the support of the progressive bloc on the General Council of the Judiciary (CGPJ). The other is Carmen Lamela, the first investigating judge in the Catalan independence trial, who, while still at the National Court, was the first to send its leaders to prison. Other names connected to the October 1st referendum case are among the judges who will judge García Ortiz. The most well-known is Manuel Marchena, who presided over the court that convicted the pro-independence politicians of sedition. Juan Ramón Berdugo and Antonio del Moral also participated, completing the panel of judges in the trial of the Attorney General.

The defense

García Ortiz is not being defended by a private law firm; instead, he has entrusted this task to the State Attorney's Office. Two State Attorneys will be present during the trial, attempting to dismantle the accusations in order to secure his acquittal. They will be Consuelo Castro and Iñaki Ocio. The Process of National Reorganization also resurfaces in this team because Castro, who served as State Attorney General between 2018 and 2024, was the one who decided to reduce the charge from rebellion to sedition, which carries lesser prison sentences. During the sessions, the defendant will be allowed to sit next to her. He is not scheduled to testify until the fifth session, on Wednesday, November 12.

The prosecution

On the same side of the bench, closer to the judge, will sit the two prosecutors in the case. Despite being a plaintiff in the criminal proceedings, in this trial the Public Prosecutor's Office is also requesting the acquittal of García Ortiz. Representing the institution during the trial will be the Deputy Attorney General of the Supreme Court, Ángeles Sánchez Conde, who is the second-in-command to the Attorney General. of "progressive sensibility" and "enormously admired" by García OrtizAccording to sources close to him, and the prosecutor Javier Montero Juanes, who handled the case when it began in the High Court of Justice of Madrid (TSJM) and is the chief prosecutor of Extremadura.

The accusations

At the other end of the courtroom will be the prosecution. On one side, the private prosecution, represented by Ayuso's boyfriend and his lawyer, Gabriel Rodríguez-Ramos. In his case, González Amador is considered directly affected by the crime of revealing secrets, since what was published is an email from his former lawyer sent on February 2, 2024, to the Madrid Provincial Prosecutor's Office proposing a plea deal with the prosecution that involved admitting to tax fraud. But it's not only the affected party who is being prosecuted; there are also four public prosecutions. These are the Madrid Bar Association (represented by Pablo Morenilla and Ignacio Luis Otero); the Freedom and Alternative Forum Foundation; chaired by the former president of the Catalan PP and founder of Vox, Aleix Vidal-Quadras, which groups together in the same accusation Vox and Hazte Oír (assisted by lawyer Fernando García-Capelo); the ultra-right-wing union Manos Limpias (with Víctor Manuel Soriano as lawyer) and the Professional and Independent Association of Prosecutors (APIF) which lawyer Juan Antonio Frago will have in the dock to request that García Ortiz be convicted.

In the APIF case, it is the private prosecution that is requesting the highest sentence, up to six years in prison and twelve years of absolute disqualification. Ayuso's partner is demanding a four-year prison sentence and compensation of 300,000 euros for the "moral damages caused" by the leak. The other three private prosecutions are also requesting four-year prison sentences.

The witnesses

To try to determine what happened between March 13 and 14, 2024, when the email was published in the press, the court will hear from 40 witnesses. The list includes eight prosecutors—among them Julián Salto, the prosecutor who received the email from González Amador's lawyer; Pilar Rodríguez, the chief prosecutor of Madrid who was temporarily investigated for the leak and facilitated García Ortiz's access to the email; Almudena Lastra, the senior prosecutor of Madrid who clashed with the Attorney General; and Diego Villafañe, the third-ranking official at the Attorney General's Office who was also under investigation—and two press officers from the Prosecutor's Office. The prosecutors will be the first to testify in the first two sessions on November 3 and 4. Afterward, political figures will testify, highlighting the battle over the narrative that took place between the Spanish government and Ayuso's People's Party (PP), in which García Ortiz presents himself as the scapegoat—while the prosecution sees him as actively responsible. Former Moncloa officials Francesc Vallès and Pilar Sánchez Acera will testify, as will former Madrid PSOE leader Juan Lobato. From Ayuso's inner circle, her chief of staff, Miguel Ángel Rodríguez, whom García Ortiz blames for leading the creation of the case, is also scheduled to testify. of an alternative media story to exonerate González Amadorwho will also testify, as will his former lawyer, Carlos Neira. All three are scheduled to appear on Tuesday, November 4. Twelve journalists and eleven agents from the Central Operational Unit (UCO) of the Civil Guard will complete the testimonies. The trial is expected to conclude with a verdict on November 13.