González and Zapatero support the partial pardon of Griñán

The former Presidents of the Government Felipe González and José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero will support with their signature the request for pardon for the former President of the Junta de Andalucía and the PSOE, José Antonio Griñán, sentenced to six years in prison and special disqualification for two separate crimes of prevarication and embezzlement in the case of the ERE.

The Supreme Court (TS) confirmed at the end of July the conviction of the former presidents of the Junta de Andalucía Manuel Chaves and José Antonio Griñán for the irregular use of regional subsidies for Employment Regulation Files (ERE). The first was sentenced to 9 years of disqualification for prevarication, while the second was sentenced to 6 years in prison for prevarication and embezzlement, which now places him one step away from entering prison.

The wife of former President Griñán, María Teresa Caravaca; and his son, Manuel Griñán Caravaca, will present the request for a partial pardon for the former president, alleging his “irreproachable life trajectory characterized by his fight for Democracy” and that throughout 40 years dedicated to public service “he has never obtained any other remuneration of his official salary. This is reflected in the draft of the request for this measure of grace to which ‘El Confidencial’ has had access.

It should be remembered that on August 8, González indicated in a statement that he had received the Supreme Court ruling with “perplexity and pain” and defended his “impeccable moral integrity”, for which he assured that if he had the opportunity to appoint him as a member of a government that he presided, he would do it again.

“Unfortunate Irony”

In the 11-page document, Griñán’s family describes his prison sentence for embezzlement as “unfortunate irony”, since “throughout his life he has precisely made professional and economic honesty his main value.”

After reviewing his political biography, and attacking the crime of embezzlement, they point out that it is a “true and known fact” that the Andalusian politician’s heritage is “clean and adjusted to that of the public servant.”

In fact, they list their accounts and properties, noting that they have been published both in the Official Gazette of the Junta de Andalucía and in that of the Cortes Generales, and add that it is “public and notorious” that after having occupied the highest magistracies of the state, “his patrimony proves by itself the clean execution of an exemplary public servant”.

Likewise, they highlight the “prudent” and “discreet” attitude maintained by Griñán before the judicial process of the ERE case, and add that they maintain the same respect for the courts when they request a measure of grace for “reasons of humanity and equity”. The family, in this draft, points out that the former socialist leader has suffered “permanent psychological and moral deterioration” over eleven years when seeing his name exposed to public debate.

“Three Against Two”

In the writing, the focus is also placed on the fact that the sentencing court has sentenced Griñán to 6 years with three votes in favor and two against. “It is the first time in history that a case of this magnitude (…) is resolved by such a small margin,” they add.

Griñán’s family also alleges to defend the pardon that there is “a lack of proportionality of the sanction”, that the processing of the case has been extended for a “long period of time” and that the notification of the Supreme Court ruling without having access to the sentence to see the reasons subjects him “to a public condemnation against which, strictly speaking, he cannot give an answer”.