The court's decision, announced this Wednesday, overturns the Prosecutor's Office's request for an eighteen-month prison sentence for the politician. The events date back 17 years, when Sanginés, then president of the Cabildo de Lanzarote, reported alleged irregularities in public service contracting.
Sanginés' original complaint implicated PSOE councilor Carlos Espino and businessman Antonio González, who has since passed away. González faced an accusation for ten years which, according to the ruling, proved to be "lacking in evidentiary basis". His family testified in court that this situation severely impacted his life, forcing one of his sons to leave university studies to support the family business.
The understandable distress and discouragement suffered by the businessman does not mean, naturally, that someone who merely brought to the attention of Justice facts they suspected could constitute criminal offenses should be criminally convicted.
Both the Public Prosecutor's Office and the private prosecution, representing González's family, argued that Sanginés' complaint was a political persecution against Espino, who had exposed the corruption scheme known as the Caso Unión. However, the senator's defense maintained that Sanginés acted in accordance with his "legal obligation" by informing the authorities about the alleged crimes.
The Supreme Court has determined that the crime of false accusation requires intent and malice, meaning knowledge of the falsehood or manifest disregard for the truth. The court concluded that Sanginés acted within the framework of a complaint regarding alleged irregularities in the administrative contracting process of the local public company EPEL, with this entity being the one that filed the corresponding complaint.
The ruling also states that there was no "objective falsehood and deliberate intention to lie" when the former president of the Cabildo de Lanzarote formalized the accusation against Antonio González and his company, Climafrical. He merely brought to the attention of the authorities facts that had been conveyed to him as potentially criminal. Since there was no crime of false accusation, the charge of perjury also falls.
