The Central Administrative Litigation Court number 2 of the National Court has issued Sentence 88/2024, which accepts in its entirety the lawsuit filed by the defense of Samuel Vázquez Álvarez. Consequently, annuls the sanction imposed by the Secretary of State for Security y obliges the Ministry of the Interior, Fernando Grande-Marlaska, to pay in full the costs of the process.
The ruling indicates that the expressions used in Mr. Vázquez’s tweets «They are atypical and do not fit the description of the type chosen by the Administration«, so the elements of the type are not met. Furthermore, the magistrate considers that The alleged inconsideration cannot be considered as carried out in the exercise of the actor’s functions as National Police.
The defense of Vázquez, a member of Police Union Alternative (ASP) and represented by his legal services, argued in his lawsuit the violation of the freedom of expression rights (art. 20 EC) Yet the effective judicial protection (art. 24 EC)as well as misuse of power and lack of proportionality of the sanction imposed due to lack of motivation. These arguments were fully accepted in the ruling.
The judicial resolution emphasizes that There is no criticism of the Police Institutionbut to certain political leaders which the plaintiff considers as “chiefs“, which feed a “system of farmhouses” and “protect power structures and political discourses.” There is no inconsideration observed, and even less serious, since The prestige of the National Police as an institution transcends its political authorities and is not affected by personal criticism of its leaders.
The procedure originated from two tweets published by Mr. Vázquez on March 28 and 30, 2023. In one of them, announced the exercise of criminal actions against the Director General of the Police. In the other, he stated that the Minister of the Interior, Fernando Grande-Marlaskahad appointed as General Directors of both the National Police and the Civil Guard people with no previous operational experience and no knowledge of the subjectwhose main function was protect political speeches and power structures to the detriment of social protection.
Mr. Vázquez, president of the association A police force for the 21st century, has denounced suffer “brutal persecution” by senior political officials of the National Police and the Ministry of the Interior for more than a year, facing the opening of six different sanctioning files in less than a year.
The magistrate stated in his ruling that Mr. Vázquez’s tweet reveals, protected by his right to freedom of expression and opinion, “objectively certain and verifiable factsof relevant social interest as they relate to the professional and academic training of political authorities who direct (or directed) the two national bodies of the State security forces.
The judge confirms that “it is not acceptable that the same political authorities elected by the Government party take advantage of their privileged position to use the repressive apparatus of the State through the feared right of sanctions and thus try to silence the criticism they receive for their (verifiable) lack of experience and knowledge in the matter for which they hold maximum responsibility.