Iñaki Urdangarin has absolved Princess Cristina and the royal household of having had anything to do with the Instituto Nóos, save for the royal household having given him advice to cease his activities with Nóos. It would have been surprising had he suggested otherwise, but regardless of his statements in front of Judge José Castro, the public is inclined to think differently. Opinion polling indicates that an overwhelming majority believe that the princess knew what her husband was allegedly up to with Nóos. Opinion varies, depending on political party sympathies, as to whether the King knew or might even have participated in Urdangarin's alleged activities.
What the public thinks shouldn't of course matter. Those who do matter are the actors in the Urdangarin drama. While we are now familiar with Urdangarin and his former business partner Diego Torres, there is one actor with whom we are less familiar. The judge.
Not cowed by any fear of appearing disrespectful, Judge Castro has demanded to see the visitors book at the Zarzuela royal palace. He wants to see if the Valencian politicians Francesc Camps and Rita Barberá attended a meeting with Urdangarin at the palace to discuss contracts related to the 2004 Valencia Summit on sport. Urdangarin told the judge on Saturday that no such meeting took place.
Castro has seemingly remained immune to any pressures to back off, and this would be in keeping with his reputation. Often described as being brave, he has also been described as reckless. The two descriptions go hand in hand because they refer to what he has investigated. Urdangarin, and the proximity to the royal family, is the latest in a list that goes back to when he first took up his post in 1991. They have included the "caso Calvià", the investigation into the buying of political advantage by the Partido Popular, and the "caso túnel de Sóller". Though the accused in this latter case were cleared, it was enough to bring about the downfall of one of the accused, the grandfather of Balearics politics, the first president of the islands, the PP's Gabriel Cañellas.
More recently, Castro has been investigating corruption cases involving the Unió Mallorquina party and of course another former PP president, Jaume Matas. There is something of a theme with the various cases over the years, and it is the PP. Matas has been so convinced of some sort of bias that he has said that Castro has a "personal and political phobia" towards him.
Castro can't be accused of bias against one political body. It is more a case that he has locked horns with a Mallorcan establishment, both political and societal. The PP has, since autonomy, been the dominant political presence. Both the PP and the now defunct UM have been synonymous with certain interests in local society, business ones in particular, in ways that other parties haven't been. And for Castro, the confrontation with establishment has moved to a different level, one embodied by Iñaki Urdangarin.
Investigating judges such as José Castro do face accusations of bias. The most famous of Spanish judges, Baltasar Garzón, fell foul of opponents in the PP as well of rivals within the judiciary. His allegiance to PSOE was no secret. Unlike Garzón though, Castro does not court publicity. It is why little is really known about him, other than a reputation for being fearless and for appearing grumpy. He has acquired a further reputation, one among some Mallorcans for having become a hero of the people. Matas and Urdangarin are, for these Mallorcans, joint holders of the status of public enemy number one, and Castro is their pursuer.
Attitudes towards those facing allegations do, however, get influenced by what prosecutors and the judge say and which becomes public knowledge. Castro's statement before Urdangarin's latest court appearance that Nóos was a premeditated act of criminality would only have served to reinforce negative attitudes towards Urdangarin. Such a statement might be perceived as evidence of partiality, but then an investigating judge is not like a judge in an English court.
It has been suggested that the Urdangarin affair might be spun out so long that Judge Castro retires. He is now 66, but it is understood that he wants to carry on until he is 70. Even by the slow standards of Spanish justice, four years are a long time. Too long for Castro? The "caso Nóos" is one of the last hurrahs for this scourge of the establishment. Will it prove to be the defining investigation by which José Castro will be remembered? Cañellas was let off but he had to resign. Castro's Nóos noose has far bigger game to hunt.
Any comments to andrew@thealcudiaguide.com please.
Showing posts with label Caso Nóos. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Caso Nóos. Show all posts
Monday, February 25, 2013
Tuesday, May 01, 2012
MALLORCA TODAY - Urdangarin negotiates to stay out of prison
The King's son-in-law, The Duke of Palma, aka Iñaki Urdangarin, is, according to his lawyer, willing to enter a guilty plea to charges with which he has been implicated in return for a sentence of less than two years which, as has occurred under previous precedent, would mean that he would avoid going to prison.
See more: El Mundo
See more: El Mundo
Wednesday, February 29, 2012
MALLORCA TODAY - The Duke of Palma had another foundation
Iñaki Urdangarin, the Duke of Palma, may have returned to Washington with Princess Cristina, but this doesn't mean the end of the affair. Anything but. Evidence from his declaration that is filtering out shows that nine months after the King ordered him to disassociate himself from the Instituto Nóos in 2006, another organisation was set up - the Fundación Deporte, Cultura e Integración. This was formed along with the Duke's ex-business partner Diego Torres and totally went against the King's wishes. Prosecutors are looking at whether this foundation effectively headed a network that channelled money to London, Belize and Luxembourg.
Meanwhile, the appearances in court will continue for several weeks and indeed months. Eleven people have been indicted to appear along with 45 witnesses in order to declare before the investigating judge. These include ex-president of the Balearics, Jaume Matas, and former minister, Jaume Font, now leader of the La Lliga party.
Update: The chief prosecutor has ruled out indicting the Duke's wife Princess Cristina, saying that he believes she knew nothing of her husband's affairs.
Meanwhile, the appearances in court will continue for several weeks and indeed months. Eleven people have been indicted to appear along with 45 witnesses in order to declare before the investigating judge. These include ex-president of the Balearics, Jaume Matas, and former minister, Jaume Font, now leader of the La Lliga party.
Update: The chief prosecutor has ruled out indicting the Duke's wife Princess Cristina, saying that he believes she knew nothing of her husband's affairs.
Monday, February 27, 2012
MALLORCA TODAY - The Duke of Palma still has questions to answer
Finally, at 01.30 in the morning, the interrogations of the Duke of Palma (Iñaki Urdangarin) came to an end. At 04.15, he left the court, having spent further time revising papers to do with his declaration. The lawyer representing Manos Limpias, the union that had brought a "popular" action against the Duke, did not press for charges to be laid as had been expected.
Judge Castro had made it clear that he did not believe that the marathon proceedings of yesterday were the time for charges to be laid (if they are going to be). The judge, though, may well want the Duke to return to court to make a further declaration, as there were so many evasions in the Duke's responses - he did not know answers or could not remember events.
The Duke's position, that he disassociated himself from the Instituto Nóos in 2006, has become increasingly questionable. In his declaration last week, the former director of sports in the Balearics, Pepote Ballester, suggested that the Duke had not. The Duke has admitted that he phoned Ballester and his former business partner Diego Torres in 2007 regarding the payment of 400,000 euros in respect of the sports forums organised in Mallorca. There is also evidence of email contact between the Duke and Torres in 2008 regarding various projects.
The Duke has looked to make Torres culpable, arguing that Torres robbed him, and has insisted that his wife, Princess Cristina, had nothing to do with Nóos or with the Aizoon real-estate company, other than being a director. Aizoon is one of the many companies that the Duke was associated with which, it is alleged, were used for the diversion of funds.
The royal household had apparently expressed disquiet as to the length of the interrogations of the Duke.
Judge Castro had made it clear that he did not believe that the marathon proceedings of yesterday were the time for charges to be laid (if they are going to be). The judge, though, may well want the Duke to return to court to make a further declaration, as there were so many evasions in the Duke's responses - he did not know answers or could not remember events.
The Duke's position, that he disassociated himself from the Instituto Nóos in 2006, has become increasingly questionable. In his declaration last week, the former director of sports in the Balearics, Pepote Ballester, suggested that the Duke had not. The Duke has admitted that he phoned Ballester and his former business partner Diego Torres in 2007 regarding the payment of 400,000 euros in respect of the sports forums organised in Mallorca. There is also evidence of email contact between the Duke and Torres in 2008 regarding various projects.
The Duke has looked to make Torres culpable, arguing that Torres robbed him, and has insisted that his wife, Princess Cristina, had nothing to do with Nóos or with the Aizoon real-estate company, other than being a director. Aizoon is one of the many companies that the Duke was associated with which, it is alleged, were used for the diversion of funds.
The royal household had apparently expressed disquiet as to the length of the interrogations of the Duke.
The Power To Corrupt
If the Duke of Palma's appearances in court were to have a British parallel, it would be like Vice Admiral Sir Tim Laurence being up before the beak for allegedly fiddling a few invoices, though to be more sportingly accurate, it would be preferable were Captain Mark Phillips in the dock. An Olympic gold medallist, he does share a sporting background with the Duke who, as simple Iñaki Urdangarin, was an Olympic handball medallist.
What do former Olympic medallists with royal connections do once they are no longer participants in their sports? They stay with sport. Captain Mark has gone on to be a successful horsey person. Iñaki has gone on to be a sort of Mr. Fixer for sport of all sorts. Perhaps he should have stuck with handball, the sport he knew.
How has the Duke come to be in a Palma court? Partly, it is because, like many sportspeople, his life remained sport after he had ceased to be a player. The impulse is strong. It is one that makes managers, coaches, pundits and administrators of former players. It, the sport, is all they know. But normally, they stick with the one sport they knew. The Duke became positively Olympian in terms of his sporting interests.
It may have been the Duke's misfortune, or fortune if you prefer, to have sought to carve out a sports marketing career at the same time as Jaume Matas was president of the Balearics. Matas has been exposed as a vain man, one who coveted the company of celebrity (and royalty) and who puffed himself up with grandiose projects or ideas for projects of a sporting nature. The "caso Palma Arena" takes its name from the velodrome. It was just one of Matas' pet schemes. Another was the preposterous idea of staging a grand prix on the streets of Palma.
Making sense of the trail that has led to what has not been a trial but a declaration in front of the judge reveals a whole world of sport that the Duke inhabited. The case against him first surfaced when the judge investigating the "caso Palma Arena" was inclined to consider arrangements between the Fundación Illesport (and IBATUR, the now defunct-because-of-corruption tourism agency) and the Duke's Instituto Nóos that related to international sports forums in Mallorca at the time of Matas' second presidency.
This was not the first time the Duke's institute had dabbled in grand sports gatherings. There had been the Valencia Summit in 2004, an annual sporting debate. There had been the European Games that weren't, also in Valencia, for which initially Nóos was to receive three million euros from the Valencia administration (it came to less than half this). Then there was the Palma Arena itself and an alleged 2.3 million euros from the Matas government to Nóos. And there was advice in respect of Villarreal football club; a ten-page report cost nearly 700,000 euros.
To itemise all the bits of evidence, if only in outline, would take much more than a ten-page report. How much paperwork the prosecutors and the judge have to consider is anyone's guess, as it requires untangling the network of companies with which the Duke was said to have had an association and the movement of funds to the UK, the USA and Belize. The Duke, in his declaration, has intimated that he knew little or nothing of these companies. They were under the management of his former business partner Diego Torres.
Through this network, so it is claimed, contracts from local authorities - the Balearics, Valencia, Alcalá de Henares, Mataró - were turned into subcontracts to companies operated by the Duke and for which unrealistic charges were made and payments sent offshore into tax havens.
The Duke has, however, further intimated that he only got involved with sports matters. Sport is all he knows, one might conclude. Olympic medallist he was, but he also acquired a diploma in business science from the University of Barcelona, is licensed in business management and had gained an MBA from ESADE, one of Spain's leading business schools.
The Duke will discover whether or not he is to face charges. This is why he has been in court; to establish whether there are grounds for formal charges.
Whether charges are laid or not, the Duke's story shows that sport, meant to have the power for good, can just as easily have the power to corrupt. His sporting background was the Olympics, his sporting interests were Olympian in scope, and the Olympics movement itself was once the embodiment of how sport can corrupt.
Any comments to andrew@thealcudiaguide.com please.
What do former Olympic medallists with royal connections do once they are no longer participants in their sports? They stay with sport. Captain Mark has gone on to be a successful horsey person. Iñaki has gone on to be a sort of Mr. Fixer for sport of all sorts. Perhaps he should have stuck with handball, the sport he knew.
How has the Duke come to be in a Palma court? Partly, it is because, like many sportspeople, his life remained sport after he had ceased to be a player. The impulse is strong. It is one that makes managers, coaches, pundits and administrators of former players. It, the sport, is all they know. But normally, they stick with the one sport they knew. The Duke became positively Olympian in terms of his sporting interests.
It may have been the Duke's misfortune, or fortune if you prefer, to have sought to carve out a sports marketing career at the same time as Jaume Matas was president of the Balearics. Matas has been exposed as a vain man, one who coveted the company of celebrity (and royalty) and who puffed himself up with grandiose projects or ideas for projects of a sporting nature. The "caso Palma Arena" takes its name from the velodrome. It was just one of Matas' pet schemes. Another was the preposterous idea of staging a grand prix on the streets of Palma.
Making sense of the trail that has led to what has not been a trial but a declaration in front of the judge reveals a whole world of sport that the Duke inhabited. The case against him first surfaced when the judge investigating the "caso Palma Arena" was inclined to consider arrangements between the Fundación Illesport (and IBATUR, the now defunct-because-of-corruption tourism agency) and the Duke's Instituto Nóos that related to international sports forums in Mallorca at the time of Matas' second presidency.
This was not the first time the Duke's institute had dabbled in grand sports gatherings. There had been the Valencia Summit in 2004, an annual sporting debate. There had been the European Games that weren't, also in Valencia, for which initially Nóos was to receive three million euros from the Valencia administration (it came to less than half this). Then there was the Palma Arena itself and an alleged 2.3 million euros from the Matas government to Nóos. And there was advice in respect of Villarreal football club; a ten-page report cost nearly 700,000 euros.
To itemise all the bits of evidence, if only in outline, would take much more than a ten-page report. How much paperwork the prosecutors and the judge have to consider is anyone's guess, as it requires untangling the network of companies with which the Duke was said to have had an association and the movement of funds to the UK, the USA and Belize. The Duke, in his declaration, has intimated that he knew little or nothing of these companies. They were under the management of his former business partner Diego Torres.
Through this network, so it is claimed, contracts from local authorities - the Balearics, Valencia, Alcalá de Henares, Mataró - were turned into subcontracts to companies operated by the Duke and for which unrealistic charges were made and payments sent offshore into tax havens.
The Duke has, however, further intimated that he only got involved with sports matters. Sport is all he knows, one might conclude. Olympic medallist he was, but he also acquired a diploma in business science from the University of Barcelona, is licensed in business management and had gained an MBA from ESADE, one of Spain's leading business schools.
The Duke will discover whether or not he is to face charges. This is why he has been in court; to establish whether there are grounds for formal charges.
Whether charges are laid or not, the Duke's story shows that sport, meant to have the power for good, can just as easily have the power to corrupt. His sporting background was the Olympics, his sporting interests were Olympian in scope, and the Olympics movement itself was once the embodiment of how sport can corrupt.
Any comments to andrew@thealcudiaguide.com please.
Sunday, February 26, 2012
MALLORCA TODAY - Duke of Palma in court - day two
After the Lord Mayor's Show, this morning's events outside the court were quite different. It is Sunday morning after all. No more than 20 protesters, and the Duke arrived for the second day of declaration in a more relaxed mood.
The Duke is expected to insist that Princess Cristina had nothing to do with the Instiuto Nóos. Meanwhile, revelations keep emerging, the latest being the apparent existence of false invoices related to the European Games, something the Duke was involved with along with the Valencia regional government, but which didn't take place.
The Duke has said that the alleged contracting of phantom employees at the Instituto Nóos was a matter to do with his ex-business partner Diego Torres. He has admitted that he was involved with a regional government payment of 400,000 euros to the institute in respect of a sports promotional forum held in Mallorca but that the exact amount of payment was not something he controlled. He has continued to insist that he knew nothing about the network of companies with which he was said to be involved. Lunch taken at just after 14:00.
Update: The real-estate company Aizoon, in which Pincess Cristina was a partner, was the sole responsibility of the Duke, he has testified. Money from Nóos, it has been suggested, was diverted to Aizoon.
The judge lost patience at one point with the Duke's evasiveness and inability to remember, suggesting it might have been better had he not come to declare. After some 15 hours of questioning, the judge handed over to the prosecutors at around 17:30.
The Duke has accused Diego Torres of having negotiated contracts with local governments off his own back.
Update (20:30): The proceedings seem to be becoming increasingly absurd. Some lawyers are unhappy that the judge took so long in his questioning, and with others, in addition to the prosecutors, to lodge their questions, it is possible they could all be there into the early morning. How can anyone be expected to give reasonable evidence (or reasonable questions) after such a protracted session? They should call it a day and come back again. Ridiculous.
On and on they go. The judge has indicated that if there is to be an injunction served on the Duke it will not be today. There is also now a suggestion that, because of the evasiveness of the Duke, Princess Cristina may be called to declare. Thankfully, not today or nearly tomorrow. The prosecutors have just about finished their questions. It is now 23:30.
The Duke is expected to insist that Princess Cristina had nothing to do with the Instiuto Nóos. Meanwhile, revelations keep emerging, the latest being the apparent existence of false invoices related to the European Games, something the Duke was involved with along with the Valencia regional government, but which didn't take place.
The Duke has said that the alleged contracting of phantom employees at the Instituto Nóos was a matter to do with his ex-business partner Diego Torres. He has admitted that he was involved with a regional government payment of 400,000 euros to the institute in respect of a sports promotional forum held in Mallorca but that the exact amount of payment was not something he controlled. He has continued to insist that he knew nothing about the network of companies with which he was said to be involved. Lunch taken at just after 14:00.
Update: The real-estate company Aizoon, in which Pincess Cristina was a partner, was the sole responsibility of the Duke, he has testified. Money from Nóos, it has been suggested, was diverted to Aizoon.
The judge lost patience at one point with the Duke's evasiveness and inability to remember, suggesting it might have been better had he not come to declare. After some 15 hours of questioning, the judge handed over to the prosecutors at around 17:30.
The Duke has accused Diego Torres of having negotiated contracts with local governments off his own back.
Update (20:30): The proceedings seem to be becoming increasingly absurd. Some lawyers are unhappy that the judge took so long in his questioning, and with others, in addition to the prosecutors, to lodge their questions, it is possible they could all be there into the early morning. How can anyone be expected to give reasonable evidence (or reasonable questions) after such a protracted session? They should call it a day and come back again. Ridiculous.
On and on they go. The judge has indicated that if there is to be an injunction served on the Duke it will not be today. There is also now a suggestion that, because of the evasiveness of the Duke, Princess Cristina may be called to declare. Thankfully, not today or nearly tomorrow. The prosecutors have just about finished their questions. It is now 23:30.
Saturday, February 25, 2012
MALLORCA TODAY - The Duke of Palma's day in court
Rarely has any event in Mallorca attracted as much interest as today's appearance by the Duke of Palma (Iñaki Urdangarin) at the court in Palma to face questioning over the so-called "caso Nóos". Speculation has been rife as to how the Duke will arrive at court - on foot or by car; various protest groups will be out in force, such as the Maulets (independence radicals); police will also be out in force, extra officers having been drafted in from Valencia, along with the media.
The Duke faces charges of fraud and tax evasion, his marketing organisation the Instituto Nóos being at the centre of the charges which relate, among other things, to invoices for work that allegedly was not performed but for which government agencies paid substantial amounts of public money during the last presidency of Jaume Matas; the "caso Nóos" has, in effect, become a part of the ongoing "caso Palma Arena" investigations and trials of the former president for embezzlement and fraud.
The case has embroiled the royal family, as the Duke is married to the King's daughter, Princess Cristina. Her involvement with the case, though she has yet to be indicted and may not be, is largely to do with a real-estate firm she ran with the Duke and alleged diversion of money to this firm.
Update: So, the Duke entered on foot after all, though his car had some eggs thrown at it. 500 demonstrators protested against corruption and the monarchy. The Duke said he was seeking the truth and to defend his honour. He has admitted to the judge that the King ordered him to disassociate himself from the Instituto Nóos back in 2006.
Update: Prior to a break for lunch at 14:00, the Duke was asked mainly about the various companies that are cited in the case and with which he had associations.
The Duke has said that he did not take decisions where these companies were concerned but that the management was left to his former business partner Diego Torres and that involvement he had was confined to matters to do with sport.
Update: The Duke has said that he did meet with Jaume Matas and the former director of sport for the Balearics, "Pepote" Ballester at the Marivent palace where they discussed governmental financial support for a cycling team run by the bank Banesto and for which his company could act in marketing. It seemed a good idea to the Duke who claims that arrangements were left in the hands of Diego Torres.
Update: The Duke has declared that money from Nóos went to Belize for a foundation for sick children. The judge has indicated that he wants to finish the interrogation of the Duke today, which could mean the court session lasting to almost midnight.
Update: Showing how complex the affairs of the Duke were, questions have arisen regarding a settlement of 300,000 euros through one of the Duke's companies Global Corporate, itself linked to the Belize foundation. Global Corporate has two subsidiaries in the USA in addition to a Spanish base.
Update: Judge Castro has called a halt to proceedings at just after 20:00. Everyone will be back tomorrow at 09:30. Cue more demos no doubt.
The Duke faces charges of fraud and tax evasion, his marketing organisation the Instituto Nóos being at the centre of the charges which relate, among other things, to invoices for work that allegedly was not performed but for which government agencies paid substantial amounts of public money during the last presidency of Jaume Matas; the "caso Nóos" has, in effect, become a part of the ongoing "caso Palma Arena" investigations and trials of the former president for embezzlement and fraud.
The case has embroiled the royal family, as the Duke is married to the King's daughter, Princess Cristina. Her involvement with the case, though she has yet to be indicted and may not be, is largely to do with a real-estate firm she ran with the Duke and alleged diversion of money to this firm.
Update: So, the Duke entered on foot after all, though his car had some eggs thrown at it. 500 demonstrators protested against corruption and the monarchy. The Duke said he was seeking the truth and to defend his honour. He has admitted to the judge that the King ordered him to disassociate himself from the Instituto Nóos back in 2006.
Update: Prior to a break for lunch at 14:00, the Duke was asked mainly about the various companies that are cited in the case and with which he had associations.
The Duke has said that he did not take decisions where these companies were concerned but that the management was left to his former business partner Diego Torres and that involvement he had was confined to matters to do with sport.
Update: The Duke has said that he did meet with Jaume Matas and the former director of sport for the Balearics, "Pepote" Ballester at the Marivent palace where they discussed governmental financial support for a cycling team run by the bank Banesto and for which his company could act in marketing. It seemed a good idea to the Duke who claims that arrangements were left in the hands of Diego Torres.
Update: The Duke has declared that money from Nóos went to Belize for a foundation for sick children. The judge has indicated that he wants to finish the interrogation of the Duke today, which could mean the court session lasting to almost midnight.
Update: Showing how complex the affairs of the Duke were, questions have arisen regarding a settlement of 300,000 euros through one of the Duke's companies Global Corporate, itself linked to the Belize foundation. Global Corporate has two subsidiaries in the USA in addition to a Spanish base.
Update: Judge Castro has called a halt to proceedings at just after 20:00. Everyone will be back tomorrow at 09:30. Cue more demos no doubt.
Thursday, February 23, 2012
On Trial: The Spanish judiciary
Justice, administered and delivered by judges and magistrates in Spain, is administered and delivered in the name of the King. The King, in addressing a legal profession gathering in Barcelona, has reminded judges that it is they alone who impart justice. On Saturday, the King's son-in-law appears in a Palma court. The judge presiding over the "caso Nóos" is consulting with not just the prosecution but also the government and the Partido Popular as to whether they wish the King's daughter, Princess Cristina, to be indicted as part of this case.
Make of this little mix what you will, as there is an awful lot that can be made of it.
Under the Spanish Constitution, the judiciary is independent, and so of course it should be. But the extent to which it truly is independent or neutral is coming under increasing scrutiny. The Garzón affair has raised serious doubts, and the royal family having become embroiled in the wider investigation and trial of the former president of the Balearics, Jaume Matas, raises more doubts.
Let's be clear. If, and one stresses if, there is a case for the King's daughter to answer, then so be it. The royal household, from the outset of the investigation of the Duke of Palma, has made it clear that it respects the actions of the judiciary, but justice being administered and delivered in the name of King when it might involve the King's daughter, as opposed to a commoner (which the Duke is), highlights just how much of a dilemma has been created by the investigation.
For Judge Castro, the dilemma is enormous. By consulting with the government and a political party, he runs the risk of being seen to be subject to political influence. Should it not be his decision and his decision alone? Possibly. But by counselling the wishes of the political class, or a part of it, he is placing the dilemma in the hands of this political class.
In some respects, one could say he is playing a blinder, as he is handing responsibility elsewhere. But however the political class decides to play things, it will be criticised. Firstly, it will be criticised for getting involved at all. Secondly, if it says it does not wish the Princess to be indicted, it risks being accused of applying one rule for one and one rule for another (assuming, that is, there genuinely is a case to answer, and most noises have suggested not, as with the evidence of former Olympic sailing gold medallist, "Pepote" Ballester). Thirdly, if it says it does wish the Princess to be indicted, then it potentially opens up a massive can of worms.
The reason why this can of worms might be opened up is that a trap has been laid by the right-wing union Manos Limpias. In calling for the Princess to be indicted, if the government and the PP were to follow its demand, the union would, in effect, receive official backing. For the government to be perceived as acceding to the wishes of a union with the type of associations it has, i.e. Francoist, could be hugely damaging.
The government will be damned if it does and damned if it doesn't, and a further problem is that the Spanish people, generally speaking, are indifferent to many members of the royal family, with the definite exception of the King, who is held in such enormous regard, and rightly so.
The whole affair surrounding the Duke couldn't have come at a worse time for the Spanish judiciary. The world is having its say about a Spanish system that has tried, convicted and removed from office a leading judge at the behest of right-wing forces. Daniel Kaufmann, senior fellow at The Brookings Institution, has suggested that a travesty has been committed in respect of Judge Garzón, that judicial independence has been compromised, and, moreover, has presented evidence which indicates a decline in Spain's rule of law.
However much the Spanish judiciary is theoretically independent, there is a suspicion of politicisation and partiality. And it is caused not just by politics but also by professional rivalries within the judiciary (the Garzón affair is said to have been influenced by these). Garzón himself is not above charges of politicisation, and it is such charges, for the wider judiciary, which suggests that there needs to be some reform.
At the heart of all this, and a reason why it is all so important, is that the judiciary is a vital instrument of democracy. And in Spain, so is the monarchy. Both institutions, the legal system and the monarchy, are being placed or potentially being placed on trial.
Any comments to andrew@thealcudiaguide.com please.
Make of this little mix what you will, as there is an awful lot that can be made of it.
Under the Spanish Constitution, the judiciary is independent, and so of course it should be. But the extent to which it truly is independent or neutral is coming under increasing scrutiny. The Garzón affair has raised serious doubts, and the royal family having become embroiled in the wider investigation and trial of the former president of the Balearics, Jaume Matas, raises more doubts.
Let's be clear. If, and one stresses if, there is a case for the King's daughter to answer, then so be it. The royal household, from the outset of the investigation of the Duke of Palma, has made it clear that it respects the actions of the judiciary, but justice being administered and delivered in the name of King when it might involve the King's daughter, as opposed to a commoner (which the Duke is), highlights just how much of a dilemma has been created by the investigation.
For Judge Castro, the dilemma is enormous. By consulting with the government and a political party, he runs the risk of being seen to be subject to political influence. Should it not be his decision and his decision alone? Possibly. But by counselling the wishes of the political class, or a part of it, he is placing the dilemma in the hands of this political class.
In some respects, one could say he is playing a blinder, as he is handing responsibility elsewhere. But however the political class decides to play things, it will be criticised. Firstly, it will be criticised for getting involved at all. Secondly, if it says it does not wish the Princess to be indicted, it risks being accused of applying one rule for one and one rule for another (assuming, that is, there genuinely is a case to answer, and most noises have suggested not, as with the evidence of former Olympic sailing gold medallist, "Pepote" Ballester). Thirdly, if it says it does wish the Princess to be indicted, then it potentially opens up a massive can of worms.
The reason why this can of worms might be opened up is that a trap has been laid by the right-wing union Manos Limpias. In calling for the Princess to be indicted, if the government and the PP were to follow its demand, the union would, in effect, receive official backing. For the government to be perceived as acceding to the wishes of a union with the type of associations it has, i.e. Francoist, could be hugely damaging.
The government will be damned if it does and damned if it doesn't, and a further problem is that the Spanish people, generally speaking, are indifferent to many members of the royal family, with the definite exception of the King, who is held in such enormous regard, and rightly so.
The whole affair surrounding the Duke couldn't have come at a worse time for the Spanish judiciary. The world is having its say about a Spanish system that has tried, convicted and removed from office a leading judge at the behest of right-wing forces. Daniel Kaufmann, senior fellow at The Brookings Institution, has suggested that a travesty has been committed in respect of Judge Garzón, that judicial independence has been compromised, and, moreover, has presented evidence which indicates a decline in Spain's rule of law.
However much the Spanish judiciary is theoretically independent, there is a suspicion of politicisation and partiality. And it is caused not just by politics but also by professional rivalries within the judiciary (the Garzón affair is said to have been influenced by these). Garzón himself is not above charges of politicisation, and it is such charges, for the wider judiciary, which suggests that there needs to be some reform.
At the heart of all this, and a reason why it is all so important, is that the judiciary is a vital instrument of democracy. And in Spain, so is the monarchy. Both institutions, the legal system and the monarchy, are being placed or potentially being placed on trial.
Any comments to andrew@thealcudiaguide.com please.
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