MADRID (Reuters) -Spain’s Supreme Court has found the country’s chief prosecutor, Alvaro Garcia Ortiz, guilty of leaking confidential information about a tax fraud case involving the partner of a senior opposition figure, the court said on Thursday.
In an unprecedented ruling, the court disqualified Garcia Ortiz from holding the office for two years and ordered him to pay a total fine of 7,300 euros ($8,402), the court said in a statement.
The decision, that can be appealed, is a blow to the government of Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez, who appointed Garcia Ortiz in 2022, and raises questions about the separation of powers in the country.
The case has attracted intense political scrutiny as the tax fraud case involves Alberto Gonzalez Amador, who is the boyfriend of Isabel Diaz Ayuso. Diaz Ayuso is the regional leader of Madrid and a prominent figure in the conservative opposition People’s Party (PP).
It is one of several points of intense strain between the leftist minority government and the PP, which has accused the government of corruption and demanded its resignation.
The court also ordered Garcia Ortiz to pay a compensation of 10,000 euros to Gonzalez Amador for moral damages.
($1 = 0.8689 euros)
(Reporting by David Latona and Emma Pinedo; Editing by Andrei Khalip)
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