Judge Hurtado Has Rejected Another Complaint from the Attorney General About the Deleted Messages

Supreme Court Judge, Ángel Hurtado, has rejected another complaint from the Attorney General about the recovery of deleted messages. The messages were deleted between March 8 and 14, key dates in the data leak of businessman Alberto González Amador.

González Amador is the boyfriend of Isabel Díaz Ayuso, and his case has caused significant controversy in the Spanish judicial and political spheres. Hurtado recalled that the letters rogatory were necessary due to García Ortiz's lack of cooperation in providing information.

The judge emphasized that the prosecutor's lack of cooperation can't prevent steps from being taken to replace the missing information. García Ortiz argues that the request is disproportionate and constitutes grounds for nullity, but the judge insists on its procedural validity.

The magistrate stresses that it was the prosecutor himself who deleted data from his devices, which justifies the recovery of the information. The prosecutor argued that the letter rogatory sent to Ireland did not specify the purpose of the downloads requested from Google and WhatsApp.

Hurtado replied that data recovery is necessary in light of the possible intentional deletion of information on the investigated's mobile phone. The forensic analysis of the obtained data would focus solely on the messages existing on the mobile between March 8 and 14.

According to the judge, García Ortiz confuses the request for information with access and analysis, which demonstrates a lack of basis in his complaint. The Fundación Foro Libertad y Alternativa highlighted that if the letter rogatory is successful, the access and analysis of data will be delimited.

Hurtado points out that the measure is reasonable and consistent with the UCO report, which warned of the deletion of messages from the device. The UCO found evidence of intentional data deletion on the prosecutor's mobile, reinforcing the need to recover the information.

The judge also rejected the appeal of the Professional and Independent Association of Prosecutors (APIF) regarding the request to Google and Meta. APIF requested that the information be requested in Spain and not from the headquarters of Google and WhatsApp in Ireland to avoid political intervention.

The instructor considers that going to the central headquarters in Ireland is the correct way to ensure the recovery of the messages. García Ortiz's appeal attempted to block the judge's decision to claim the deleted messages, citing security reasons.

According to the Attorney General, the data deletion was part of a protection protocol that even the superior prosecutor of Madrid was unaware of. Almudena Lastra and prosecutor Julián Salto, who is investigating González Amador, stated they were unaware of the protocol mentioned by Ortiz.

Doubts about García Ortiz's actions have caused criticism, as his refusal hinders the clarification of the case.