The Officers' Union (UO) and the Civil Guard Non-Commissioned Officers' Rank Association (ASESGC) have called this Thursday for the immediate resignation of the Director General of the Armed Institute, Mercedes González, and the Deputy Operational Director (DAO), Lieutenant General Manuel Llamas. They consider that the very Law of Personnel Regime that applies to their subordinates prevents them from continuing in their positions after being implicated in the 'Leire Díez case', a case being investigated by the National Court.
"Without prejudice to the presumption of innocence, which we respect, judicial implication for any crime is incompatible with remaining in the position of Director General of the Civil Guard and Deputy Operational Director," they state in a note sent to Europa Press.
The associations expressly cite Article 92 of the Civil Guard Personnel Regime Law, which provides that prosecution, indictment, or investigation for a crime may entail suspension of duties, "and this happens to all civil guards who are implicated even for actions in the line of duty."
They also recall that, for those involved in a criminal case or disciplinary proceedings, Article 66 of that same regulation allows them to be excluded from promotion processes. This is what they emphasize in the statement, which also bears the signature of the Professional Association of Sergeants.
The signatory organizations express their "deep consternation" over the situation the Civil Guard is going through and over "the loss of prestige and trust that it can generate in the public." Other associations, such as AUGC and Jucil, have joined the criticism and have also requested the resignation of the Director General and the DAO.
"Not a few members of the Civil Guard have been removed from their duties or have their promotion or decoration processes suspended by these authorities for being involved in criminal or disciplinary proceedings, despite the absence of a conviction," they add in the document.
In the same vein, they emphasize that those who apply these criteria to their subordinates cannot be "immune" when they are personally affected. "Given the seriousness of the facts, and without prejudice to respect for the presumption of innocence, both the Director General and the DAO should present their resignation or be removed, in coherence with the same principles and criteria that these authorities have been applying to the civil guards under their command," they conclude.