Overview
- Spain’s Supreme Court published the written judgment confirming two years’ disqualification, a €7,200 fine and €10,000 in damages for Álvaro García Ortiz, with ordinary appeals exhausted and only an amparo to the Constitutional Court possible.
- The majority holds there is a solid evidentiary picture that the email reached Cadena SER from García Ortiz or someone in his immediate circle with his knowledge.
- The court says the leak and the subsequent Fiscalía note formed a unit of action and emphasizes a reinforced duty of confidentiality, stating that the attorney general cannot counter alleged falsehoods by committing a crime.
- Magistrates Susana Polo and Ana Ferrer dissent, arguing the leak was not proven to be attributable to García Ortiz and that issuing the press note was not criminal, citing journalists’ prior access to the email.
- Following the conviction, García Ortiz resigned and the government is advancing prosecutor Teresa Peramato as his successor, as parties trade sharply divergent reactions to the ruling.