García Ortiz's defense, represented by the State Attorney's Office, has filed an appeal for protection with the TC. The document requests the annulment of the sentence and argues for the violation of fundamental rights such as the presumption of innocence, effective judicial protection, freedom of expression, and the right not to incriminate oneself.
The conviction, issued last December, imposed a two-year disqualification from office, a fine of 7,200 euros, and compensation of 10,000 euros to Alberto González Amador, partner of the president of the Community of Madrid, Isabel Díaz Ayuso, for moral damages.
“"In his actions, there was a legitimate institutional purpose: to deny confusing, contradictory, and distorted information and to defend the actions of the Public Prosecutor's Office and the intervening prosecutors in a matter of great public interest, refuting the serious accusations that had been publicly made against it."
The appeal argues that the Supreme Court made an “irrational and arbitrary assessment of the evidence” and based the imputation on “mere open inferences,” ignoring exculpatory evidence such as the testimony of journalists who denied that the Attorney General was their source. Furthermore, it is argued that the sentence is arbitrary in deeming the leak proven without “authentic evidence or sufficient logical reasoning.”
The appeal also points out that the sentence did not consider press reports about González Amador's criminal proceedings for alleged tax offenses, which were disseminated “long before the issuance of the Prosecutor's Office's note” on March 14, 2024. This note, according to García Ortiz, aimed to “defend the institution's actions” and clarify what happened, detailing emails where Ayuso's partner admitted to tax offenses.
“"There was no typical disclosure, because when the informative note was published, all the information had already been publicly disseminated by various media; therefore, nothing unknown or secret was being revealed."
Meanwhile, the president of the Community of Madrid, Isabel Díaz Ayuso, has criticized the situation, suggesting that the president of the Constitutional Court, Cándido Conde-Pumpido, could “pardon” García Ortiz. Ayuso has called the government a “mafia gang” and implied that the Attorney General was “politically appointed” to commit crimes, and that the president of the Constitutional Court was appointed to “cover everything up.”
