The president of the Popular Party, Alberto Núñez Feijóo, announced this Saturday that his party will join the case opened in the National Court regarding the migratory crisis in Ceuta, a new avenue of pressure against the Government after weeks of political confrontation over the management of the massive entry recorded at the end of July.
The announcement was made during the opening of the political course of the PP in Cerdedo-Cotobade, in Pontevedra, where Feijóo has once again placed what happened in Ceuta at the center of his offensive against the Executive of Pedro Sánchez.
The leader of the opposition maintains that the intervention of the PP in the procedure will allow for the clarification of the facts and to demand possible judicial responsibilities. "Those responsible for the abandonment will have to appear and account before justice", he assured.
The political responsibility that the PP demands is part of its offensive against the Executive; it will be, on the other hand, the judicial investigation that determines whether there are facts with criminal relevance and who could be responsible for them.
What the National Court is investigating regarding the Ceuta crisis
The case originated from a complaint filed on July 30 by Iustitia Europa, which requested the investigation of possible crimes related to state security, the facilitation of illegal immigration, human trafficking, and the eventual participation of criminal organizations.
The judge of the National Court María Tardón opened preliminary proceedings and requested a report from the General Commissariat of Foreigners and Borders of the National Police regarding the massive entry that occurred on July 30 and 31.
One of the central points of the investigations is to determine whether what occurred was the result of a "coordinated or directed action" by some organization or criminal group. The Police must also provide the identification elements of those individuals who may have intervened in a possible organization of the events.
The magistrate has also requested information from the Civil Guard about the devices deployed and about whether there was any prior warning that could have anticipated an entry of those characteristics.
The investigation is still in an initial phase. These proceedings will also serve for the National Court to definitively determine whether it has jurisdiction to continue investigating the entirety of the reported facts.
The PP wants to take its offensive regarding Ceuta to the courts
The decision to become a party to the proceedings represents an additional step in the strategy developed by the PP since the beginning of the crisis. The popular party has used its majority in the Senate to demand appearances, has demanded accountability from several ministers, and has also gone to the Supreme Court in response to the refusal of government members to appear during August.
The Supreme Court recently rejected the extremely urgent request made by PP senators to compel several ministers to appear urgently, considering that the necessary special urgency had not been demonstrated to adopt that measure without first hearing from the other party.
Now, Feijóo intends to open another front by directly entering the proceedings taking place in the National Court.
Feijóo focuses on the warnings prior to July 30
One of the issues on which the PP wants to obtain explanations is what information the intelligence services had before the massive entry and which authorities received it.
The statements made in recent days by various government members have fueled the controversy. The Minister of Defense, Margarita Robles, defended that the intelligence services did their job and shared the available information with the Security Forces and the Government Delegation.
The Minister of the Interior, Fernando Grande-Marlaska, subsequently stated that his department did not receive reports that anticipated a massive entry like the one that ultimately occurred, which the PP considers a contradiction that must be clarified.
For this reason, Feijóo has also demanded that the director of the CNI, Esperanza Casteleiro, appear before the Senate to explain when the warnings occurred, what information they contained, and what the Executive knew before the events.
The very case in the National Court has already incorporated this debate. Iustitia Europa has requested that the CNI be required to provide information on what data it had before July 30 and 31, when it was known, and to which public bodies it was transferred.
"There will be consequences"
Feijóo has presented the judicial participation as part of his commitment that the Ceuta crisis does not go without consequences. The president of the PP believes that there are enough questions about the government's actions before and after the massive entry to demand a thorough investigation.
His party thus intends to keep open a double battle during the new political course: one parliamentary, focused on the appearances and explanations of the Government, and another judicial, through its entry into the procedure of the National Court.
The announcement of the participation by Feijóo must be specified procedurally and be admitted by the judicial body. Meanwhile, Judge María Tardón continues waiting for the reports requested from the Police and Civil Guard to decide the scope of some proceedings that seek to clarify whether behind the massive entry into Ceuta there was an organized action and what criminal responsibilities could arise from what happened.