Spain's official gazette publishes five pardons, three for corruption convicts

The Government grants five partial pardons, three of them to people with final corruption convictions

How is it possible that an executive that promised a tough stance on corruption publishes five pardons just before the holidays, three of them for people convicted in final rulings for corruption offences? The data is in the BOE (Spain's official state gazette) and reactions were not long in coming.

The package includes Laura Borrás, former speaker of the Catalan Parliament, whose partial pardon is justified on "grounds of justice and equity". Also Juan Fernández Gutiérrez, former mayor of Linares, sentenced to three years in prison —commuted to two— and seven years of disqualification from office. The third figure is Natalio Grueso, a cultural manager sentenced to eight years for embezzlement, who sees his prison sentence pardoned on humanitarian health grounds.

A pattern that raises hackles

The case of Fernández Gutiérrez is striking: the pardon was backed by favourable reports from the sentencing court and by the support of the conservative and socialist groups in Linares, as well as a residents' association that collected signatures. The criticism focuses on the fact that the revolving door between politics and justice keeps turning. For some analysts, the repeated pardoning of convicts linked to political power undermines the credibility of the judicial system.

Humanitarian pardons and their shadows

Natalio Grueso, a cultural promoter, has seen his sentence reduced because of his health. Some twenty artists backed the request. However, the crime of embezzling public funds —a final sentence of eight years— is not erased by a medical report. The decision reopens the debate on the use of pardons to evade penalties for corruption.

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In total, five beneficiaries. Three convicted of corruption. The Government cites equity and justice; the opposition speaks of impunity. And meanwhile, the BOE remains the thermometer of how far the executive's room for manoeuvre extends. Ironies of democracy: pardons are published in the same gazette as the laws.