Spain's top prosecutor poised to face trial over leak accusation

By David Latona and Emma Pinedo

MADRID (Reuters) -Spain's Supreme Court is set to put the prosecutor general on trial over allegations of leaking confidential information in a tax fraud case involving the partner of a leading opposition figure, according to a court document seen by Reuters on Monday.

The case is at the heart of frictions between Spain's centre-left national government and the right-wing leader of the Madrid region, Isabel Diaz Ayuso, with each side accusing the other of corruption.

The investigative judge's decision that the case against Prosecutor General Alvaro Garcia Ortiz warrants trial is unprecedented since Spain's return to democracy in 1978.

The government appointed Garcia Ortiz, 57, to the post in August 2022. A member of a progressive jurists' association, he has a background in environmental law and led the public prosecution in the high-profile Prestige oil spill.

In his writ, judge Angel Hurtado said there was enough evidence to proceed against Garcia Ortiz on accusations of sharing with media the contents of an email exchange between the lawyer representing Ayuso's boyfriend, Alberto Garcia Amador, and the regional prosecutor's office.

Hurtado's decision can still be appealed.

In the leaked email, Garcia Amador's attorney offered his client's admission to two counts of tax fraud in exchange for a negotiated settlement with Madrid prosecutors to avoid jail penalties. Garcia Amador later testified in court that he had no knowledge of the proposed deal.

Hurtado, who launched the case last October, said the email held sensitive personal information, protected under lawyer-prosecutor confidentiality, and claimed that Garcia Ortiz acted under instructions from Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez's office in order to "win the narrative".

Sanchez said at the time that the prosecutor was "doing his job, going after delinquents".

The judge said Garcia Ortiz had erased data from his mobile devices during the investigation, which he labelled an act of "obstruction of justice".

Garcia Ortiz has refused to resign and repeatedly defended his innocence and impartiality. His office said in a statement on Monday he would "continue defending the actions and integrity of the institution he represents".

Justice Minister Felix Bolanos said he had full confidence in Garcia Ortiz and called him an "exemplary public servant".

(Reporting by David Latona and Emma Pinedo; Editing by Andrei Khalip)