The prosecutor María de la O Silva, who is in charge of studying the complaint filed by Isabel Díaz Ayuso’s boyfriend against the Public Prosecutor’s Office, has stood up against the top of the public ministry. Silva has opposed the order she received from the institution’s second in command and deputy chief prosecutor of the Supreme Court, María Ángeles Sánchez Conde, to position herself in favor of dismissing the complaint. Therefore, she has activated article 27 of the Organic Statute of the Public Prosecutor’s Office, which allows the case to be brought before the prosecutor’s board when an “improper” instruction has been received from superiors or one that is “contrary to the law.”
The step taken by María de la O Silva intensifies the ongoing battle within the public ministry. The Attorney General of the State, Álvaro García Ortiz, is at odds with the conservative sector of the legal profession and criticized by the Popular Party. The origin of this case dates back to March 14th, when the Prosecutor’s Office in Madrid issued a press release refuting the lies and distorted information being spread by Isabel Díaz Ayuso’s team against the public ministry after proceedings were opened against her boyfriend, Alberto González Amador, currently under investigation for tax fraud and falsifying documents.
The couple and the Madrid Bar Association filed complaints alleging that the publication of the press release revealed confidential information, leading to two parallel investigations by two different prosecutors. One prosecutor from the Prosecutor’s Office in Madrid rejected the admissibility of the complaint and denied that any confidential information was disclosed, stating that the public ministry’s statement contained no new information that had not already been reported by the media. But María de la O Silva, from the Superior Prosecutor’s Office in Madrid, considered that there were indications of criminal activity and proposed conducting preliminary investigations before taking a definitive stance.
María Ángeles Sánchez Conde, the deputy chief prosecutor of the Supreme Court, urged Silva to also oppose González Amador’s complaint, stating that the Prosecutor’s Office cannot take conflicting positions on the same facts, that there are no indications of criminal activity, and that it is inappropriate to conduct preliminary investigations that involve requesting communications from the prosecutors targeted by the complaint. The Attorney General García Ortiz abstained from the case as he was previously aware of the matter. After receiving the order from Sánchez Conde, María de la O Silva invoked article 27 of the Organic Statute of the Public Prosecutor’s Office, leading to a meeting of the prosecutor’s board scheduled for the following Wednesday.
