The president of the Supreme Court (TS) and Chief Councillor of the CGPJ high court, Carlos Lesmes, admits there is “a certain anomaly” in the conversation between the acting interior minister, Jorge Fernández Díaz, and the former head of the Catalonia Antifraud Office (OAC), Daniel De Alfonso. In an interview on TV3, he pointed out that he cannot “go further” in his evaluation of a political case or question the legality of the case. On the fact that the Prosecutor sees no infraction in the conversations, he said that the Prosecutor does not answer to him, but nevertheless said: “They have come to this conclusion and I respect their decision.”
Asked about the alleged ‘Operation Catalonia’, he said that there is not enough information for him to comment on it: “To give a considered response requires precise knowledge that I do not have.” He insisted that the accusation that the legal system has become politicised “is excessive and is not appropriate to the legal situation,” and he lamented the fact that it has become a mantra resorted to despite the more than 5,400 judges in Spain working with total independence and impartiality.
Concerning the 9N sovereignty case, he said that the judges working on the case will do so in an impartial manner because “they do not act according to political criteria, only legality.” Lesmes also said that despite “there being a political conflict, it is something the judges have to remain apart from in their deliberations,” something he insisted always happens.
