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The government against Lesmes

Catalan executive to officially demand Spain’s Attorney General investigate Supreme Court head over mortgage u-turn

The government will take action against the head of Spain’s Supreme Court and the General Council of the Judiciary, Carlos Lesmes, over the court’s unprecedented u-turn on the ruling over paying the duty on new mortgages.

At Tuesday’s cabinet meeting, the executive is expected to approve filing a suit with the Spanish Attorney General to investigate Lesmes and Supreme Court judge, Luís María Díez-Picazo, which the government holds responsible for infringing the high court’s own rules.

That was according to government spokeswoman Elsa Artadi in parliament on Friday, who insisted: “There has been a violation of the Supreme Court’s own rules. The Attorney General is obliged to investigate if these offences have taken place;” she said.

The Catalan government is looking into the option of taking the case directly to the Supreme Court, but it also thinks asking the court to investigate itself could be difficult, especially bearing in mind the scandals that have emerged in relation to the Spanish judiciary over the past few days.

Among the cases casting doubt on the credibility of the Spanish justice system, the government points to the demand for prison sentences amounting to over 200 years for the jailed political leaders, the European Court of Human Rights ruling that Arnaldo Otegi did not get a fair trial, the Belgian judiciary’s appeal to the Court of Justice of the European Union over the Valtonyc extradition case, and the words of Spanish deputy prime minister, Carmen Calvo, in the Senate on Tuesday, assuming the independence leaders in pretrial jail of being guilty before their trial has even started.

The government’s decision to take action against Lesmes and Díez-Picazo comes after president Torra called for Lesmes’ to resign, in parliament on Wednesday. “Spanish injustice is a threat to democracy and the rule of law,” added Artadi.

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