The Spanish Public Prosecutor's Office has requested the Investigative Court Number 20 in Madrid to dismiss charges against four journalists from EL PAÍS, El Mundo, and 20 minutos, who were called to testify in connection with their reporting on the Attorney General's case.

In a document dated April 2, the prosecution deemed it 'legally impossible' for the reporters to have committed the alleged crime of revealing secrets by disseminating parts of a report from the Central Operational Unit (UCO) of the Guardia Civil, concerning the ongoing investigation by the Supreme Court into the Attorney General of Spain, Álvaro García Ortiz.

This report, deemed highly newsworthy, analyzed communications found on the mobile phone and email of Pilar Rodríguez, the provincial chief prosecutor of Madrid, who is also under investigation by the Supreme Court following a search of her office on October 30, 2023.

In its submission, which references constitutional and European Court of Human Rights jurisprudence, the prosecution criticized the decision of Judge Adelaida Nieves Medrano.

It emphasized that 'journalists cannot commit the aforementioned crime, as they do not fulfill the subjective condition required by the penal code: that is, the condition of public officials.' Furthermore, it added that the journalists cannot even be summoned as 'inducers' in this case, as 'there is no evidence, not even circumstantial, to prove that these journalists directly and effectively influenced unidentified individuals who leaked the report.'

Prosecutor Juan Ignacio González stated, 'The cited journalists are mere natural intermediaries in the communicative process, who in no case can be held responsible for a crime of this nature,' urging that the four reporters should be summoned only as witnesses.

This status does not preclude them from exercising their constitutional right to protect their sources.

The inquiry began several weeks ago when Pilar Rodríguez lodged a complaint regarding the leak of the UCO report without implicating the journalists.

The Supreme Court subsequently referred the case to the courts in Plaza de Castilla, Madrid, which was then taken up by Investigative Court Number 20 under Judge Nieves Medrano, who opted to investigate the four journalists and scheduled their interrogation as defendants for June 19.

The judge's decision prompted an immediate backlash from numerous organizations and professionals within the industry.

The Information Freedom Defense Platform (PDLI) asserted, 'Targeting journalists for reporting severely undermines press freedom.' The Editorial Committee of EL PAÍS remarked that the implicated journalists merely fulfilled their duty by publishing truthful and relevant information regarding a matter of public interest, which connects the Attorney General to the partner of the President of the Madrid Community.

The Investigative Journalists Association (API) condemned it as 'a serious attack on press freedom.'

In Spain, the right to information and journalistic confidentiality, including the privilege not to disclose sources, is strongly protected under the Constitution and is considered one of the fundamental rights in a democratic state.

This week, over fifty journalists specializing in legal and court reporting from 27 different media outlets signed a letter to denounce that these charges 'could severely affect the public's right to accurate information about judicial proceedings of significant importance.'

The signatories emphasized, 'If journalists, who have merely adhered to their constitutional duty of disseminating verified information on a matter of undeniable public interest, become subject to criminal investigations for performing their profession—protected by Article 20 of the Constitution—both they and their sources will endure the chilling effect that international and European courts have deemed extremely harmful to democratic societies.' This letter was sent to the President of the Supreme Court and the General Council of the Judiciary, Isabel Perelló; the President of the High Court of Justice of Madrid, Celso Rodríguez Padrón; and the Senior Judge of Madrid, María Jesús del Barco.