Two private citizens have registered what constitutes the first request for pardon in favor of Álvaro García Ortiz, last November to two years of disqualification for the position of attorney general of the State and to the payment of 17,200 euros – between fine and compensation – for revealing secrets of Alberto González Amador, boyfriend of the Madrid president, Isabel Díaz Ayuso. The Ministry of Justice, the window to which pardon requests must be directed, has already begun the legal process, urging the high court to issue its report, according to the documentation to which EL PAÍS has had access.
The applicants appeal to the reasons of justice, equity and public utility that the law generally contemplates to grant the pardon. The Government is the one that must assess whether they attend, because it is the one that grants the measure of grace. This can affect all penalties, only some or propose that the established ones be replaced by others. In the case of García Ortiz, the signatories request a total pardon for the former attorney general.
The law states that, once the request for pardon is received, the Ministry of Justice is obliged to process it. The process involves obtaining a report from the court that convicted so that it, in turn, can ask the Prosecutor’s Office and the aggrieved party for their opinion. The machinery has already been put into motion and the department headed by Félix Bolaños has sent the request for forgiveness to the Supreme Court for a ruling. The judicial headquarters must report on the situation of the case and of the convicted person, but also on “their subsequent conduct and, especially, the evidence or indications of their repentance,” as well as whether the pardon harms third parties; all of this, before taking a position on “the justice or convenience” of granting the measure of grace. In addition to the Supreme Court, the Prosecutor’s Office will have to inform, that throughout the García Ortiz procedure; and
Once the file is formed, the Minister of Justice is in charge of bringing his proposal to the Council of Ministers, which is not conditioned by the reports issued, given that they are mandatory but not binding. The Executive has the last word. Decide whether to pardon yourself and to what extent. The law does not impose deadlines on any of the parties involved in the pardon process, but the average resolution of the files is around six months, although it can be delayed, especially if several requests are accumulated, which can be formulated by the convicted person themselves, their loved ones or any person.
Pardon is not the only way that García Ortiz has to escape the sentence. His defense has filed a motion for annulment in the Supreme Court, an extraordinary appeal that is rarely considered but is necessary as a preliminary step to request protection from the Constitutional Court, where the case is expected to end. In the guarantee court, these appeals usually take between six months and a year to be resolved.
The precedent of process
The main precedent, due to its political and social relevance, is the pardons granted on June 22, 2021 by the Government of Pedro Sánchez to the former Catalan vice president Oriol Junqueras and the other nine sentenced to prison terms for leading the independence process that culminated in the illegal referendum of October 1, 2017.
The Executive only pardoned their prison sentences, which caused them to be released from prison but to be disqualified until 2031. On that occasion, Moncloa acted with the prosecutors of the process. In both cases, they alleged the seriousness of the facts – “the rupture of democratic coexistence has been attempted” – and that they did not appreciate in those convicted “the slightest evidence or the weakest indication of repentance.” The State Attorney’s Office, as an injured party, avoided taking a position. The Government granted them citing reasons of “public utility”, considering that the release of the leaders of the process could bring more benefits than his continuity behind bars, with the expectation that it would open a new stage in Catalonia.
On July 4, 2024, Justice received a new request from an individual to also pardon Junqueras and former councilors Raül Romeva, Jordi Turull and Dolors Bassa, the disqualification sentences that remain in force. , but the Prosecutor’s Office changed its position, advocating to fully pardon the former Catalan leaders, seeing it as “excessive” that they remain disqualified. The State Attorney’s Office once again took center stage. However, Junqueras, Bassa and Romeva, in addition to the former Catalan president Carles Puigdemont and the also former councilors Antoni Comín, Lluís Puig and Jordi Turull, are awaiting the response from the Constitutional Court to their appeals for protection against the Supreme Court’s decision not to amnesty them for the embezzlement of 1-O, which keeps them disqualified.
