New judicial offensive by Christian Lawyers: takes the Ceuta crisis to the National Court and asks to summon Sánchez and Marlaska to testify

The Spanish Foundation of Christian Lawyers has opened a new judicial front around the Ceuta crisis. The ultraconservative organization has filed a complaint before the National Court against the Government delegate in the autonomous city, Miguel Ángel Pérez Triano, and has requested that the President of the Government, Pedro Sánchez, and the Minister of the Interior, Fernando Grande-Marlaska, testify as witnesses.

The foundation accuses Pérez Triano of alleged crimes of public disorder and prevarication by omission for his actions during the massive entry of migrants on July 30 and 31. Its account maintains that the Delegation knew in advance of several calls disseminated on social networks to access Ceuta via the Tarajal breakwater and by sea, but did not adopt sufficient preventive measures.

The filing of the complaint does not yet imply its admission or the opening of a case against the delegate. The National Court must examine whether the described facts show signs of a crime and then decide what proceedings it deems necessary.

The legal action is directed against Pérez Triano. Sánchez and Marlaska appear only within the list of witnesses proposed by Christian Lawyers, so it is up to the judge to determine whether their statements provide relevant information to clarify what happened.

The foundation demands CNI warnings

Christian Lawyers maintains that the National Intelligence Center (CNI) on July 29 transmitted information about a call circulating on channels with some 180,000 followers. The foundation wants to know how far these warnings went, who had access to them, and what decisions the authorities made before the massive arrival.

Among the requested proceedings are the informative notes sent by the CNI on July 28 and 29, call and message records, minutes of coordination meetings, and requests for reinforcements made by the National Police and the Civil Guard.

Pérez Triano has defended in recent weeks that the message sent to his then Chief of Staff was part of a conversation and lacked the character of a formal alert. He has also assured that the calls to try to cross the border were known and that the operation was being prepared, although no one anticipated the magnitude that the events reached. The CNI itself has admitted that it could not foresee their dimensions and characteristics either.

The lawsuit also asks to investigate the response to the settlements installed near the desalination plant and the water treatment plant in Ceuta. Abogados Cristianos believes that the lack of evictions or a reinforcement of surveillance could have put at risk two essential infrastructures for the city's supply.

“If there were prior warnings, we need to know how far they went and what the Government did with them,” said the president of the foundation, Polonia Castellanos, who intends to extend the investigations beyond the delegate's actions.

Another judicial battle for Abogados Cristianos

The initiative follows the usual strategy of an organization that has turned the courts into one of its main spaces for political intervention. Abogados Cristianos presents itself as an entity dedicated to protecting “life, faith and freedom” and has promoted numerous actions related to abortion, euthanasia, LGTBI rights, sexual education and artistic or humorous content that it considers offensive to religion.

Part of these actions have ended up filed or rejected by the courts. Among them is the complaint filed against Televisión Española and the comedian Lalachus for showing during the New Year's Eve chimes an image of the Sacred Heart with the head of the 'Grand Prix' heifer.

The lawsuit about Ceuta now incorporates migration policy into this judicial offensive and seeks to bring the debate about the warnings received before July 30 to the Audiencia Nacional. The court will have to decide if the action passes the first examination and if it summons any of the political officials named by the foundation.