The chief prosecutor of the National Court, Jesús Alonso, has informed the judge of the National Court María Tardón that he is taking over the Ceuta case, so that he, and not the assigned prosecutor, will report on the jurisdiction and admission to processing of the complaint filed for an accusation, as La Vanguardia has learned from legal sources.
Alonso has adopted this decision after analyzing the police report delivered to the magistrate which includes the possible role of the Moroccan police in the massive entry of migrants from Morocco to Ceuta on July 30 and 31.
The prosecutor who had initially taken charge of the matter was betting on supporting the initiation of an investigation into possible indications of a crime against the integrity of the State. Now, it will be Alonso who decides the official position of the Prosecutor's Office.
The importance of the matter is the cause that has led the head of the National Court Prosecutor's Office to personally take charge of the matter, with the knowledge and direction of the State Attorney General's Office.
Tax sources already communicated days ago that given the relevance of the matter, article 25 of the Tax Statute had been applied so that the maximum responsible, Teresa Peramato, is informed of the movements that are adopted on the matter.
Before communicating an official position, Alonso has yet to receive the report from the Civil Guard Information Service, requested by Tardón. The magistrate, following a report from the prosecutor, must decide whether the National Court is competent and whether it sees evidence to admit to processing a complaint filed by the Iustitia Europa party for the massive assault in Ceuta at the end of July, which caused the entry of more than 70,000 people into the autonomous city.
The first report to arrive was that of the National Center for Immigration and Borders (CENIF) of the National Police and which reveals the possible role of the Moroccan security forces in allowing thousands of people to enter Ceuta and the existence of prior alerts about the risks of this entry actually taking place. The police describe the events as a “massive violation of the territorial sovereignty of Spain.”
This report has already raised blisters within the Ministry of the Interior. The minister, Fernando Grande-Marlaska, asked the Director General of the Police, Francisco Pardo, for explanations about its content, for highlighting the “passive” or “almost active” role of the Moroccan gendarmes.
The Police maintain that the massive entry was a planned and orchestrated operation. Although he does not point out anyone directly, he remembers that in other similar events the Moroccan government has already recognized its responsibility. Pardo tried yesterday to calm the waters with a statement to ensure that the Police do not hold Morocco responsible, a thesis that would be contrary to the position of the Government of Pedro Sánchez, which has defended the collaborative role of the neighboring country throughout this crisis.
Another thorny issue that the report touches on is whether there were prior warnings of the risk of this avalanche. The report includes up to nine from July 29 to August 4. The reasons for these alerts are that the Supreme Court had issued a ruling on July 8 warning that if someone swims into Ceuta, a border rejection cannot be executed. Added to this fact was the extraordinary regularization of immigrants approved by the Government and a massive misinformation campaign through social networks that created a breeding ground for thousands of people to jump first into the sea and then on foot.
Grande-Marlaska has defended from the beginning that there were no alerts of this extreme risk and yesterday Pardo interpreted from the content of the report that regarding the notice that the CENIF sent on July 29 to the border posts, it was a frequent risk alert that did not include any allusion to a possible mass entry the following day.
