The Prosecutor's Office requests a fine and disqualification for the former mayor of Cádiz for revealing secrets and prevarication

The Provincial Prosecutor's Office of Cádiz has presented its indictment in the abbreviated procedure against the former mayor of Cádiz José María González "Kichi" for the role played in the City Council by an advisor hired for his political training in 2018.

The Public Ministry requests that the former Cádiz councilor be sentenced to a fine of 10,800 euros and three years of disqualification for a continued crime of revealing secrets, as well as another 15 years of disqualification for any elected position for a continued crime of prevarication.

Identical petition for four other municipal positions

In its letter, the Public Prosecutor's Office requests the same penalties for identical crimes for two councilors of the then government team (the areas of Personnel and Tourism), for the one who was the Mayor's chief of staff at the time of the events and for another municipal advisor.

For its part, for the advisor hired by the party, whose role motivated the initiation of this judicial procedure, the Prosecutor's Office demands nine years of disqualification from employment or public office for a continued crime of prevarication.

Continued access to restricted information and direct orders

According to the public accusation, this advisor, hired by the formation of the government team (Por Cádiz Sí se Podemos) between April 2018 and April 2019, "did not have the status of public official, labor personnel, or temporary personnel." Despite this, "he continuously accessed confidential information fundamentally related to the contracting area, managed by authorities and career officials of the City Council."

The Prosecutor's Office emphasizes that said access to reserved documentation by a third party outside the Administration "was carried out by order and direct indication" of the mayor himself, the two accused councilors, the chief of staff and the advisor to the government team, detailing a series of files to which he had access.

Mandatory instructions for career officials

Likewise, the document adds that this person "gave instructions to members of the Consistory who held the status of public officials," who "met the academic requirements and sufficient professional experience to not require the help of third parties."

"The decisions, indications and instructions originating from this accused, in addition to modifications to files, were mandatory in terms of their compliance, extremes that had to be followed by the officials, being supported by the accused members of the government team," says the prosecutor. The document points out that "logically, no document in the municipal file contains the signature of the accused, even though the documents were written directly by him or indirectly by the official who finally signed it following his instructions."

Violation of public procurement rules

The Public Prosecutor's Office reminds that information related to public tender offers should not be accessible before their official announcement to avoid favoritism or introduce requirements aimed at certain economic operators. In this sense, he insists that the functions of a political advisor "are not associated with making decisions, giving instructions or ordering modifications", but are strictly limited to advice.

The accusation maintains that the work of the person under investigation "focused on the preparation and modification of public bidding files" and, associated with this, on the "consequent and habitual access to restricted information."