2 de gen. 2022

Nothing Happens, by Gonzalo Boye (19 NOV 2021)

A scathing attack, case by case, on lawfare in Spain's top courts by lawyer Gonzalo Boyé, one of its victims.
English translation by M.S., authorised by the author.
Click here  if need be to access the whole text.
 

Nothing happens.  

Gonzalo Boye Madrid. Friday, November 19, 2021. 5:30 p.m. 

Every day we have breakfast with new cases that highlight many things that some have been denouncing for years and that reflect very well what would be a real systemic failure that affects the very foundations of the State and make it incompatible with what is understood, at least, as a democratic and law-abiding State. The problem, what is really serious, is that, despite this unstoppable, systematic and clear evidence, in the end nothing happens ... Surely this is where we have the greatest danger. 

Politicians are tried, convicted and imprisoned for organizing a referendum, which is nothing more than the collective staging of a will. That is, they were condemned for exercising a right guaranteed by the Constitution itself, such as the right to demonstrate. But, even though this is so serious, nothing happens. 

A group of politicians is tried and convicted for illegally funding the election campaigns of a particular political party, and it is established that they cheated in the most basic act of democracy, such as electoral processes. But, even though this is so serious, nothing happens. 

A politician, representing a national minority, is convicted without evidence, and without any legal protection he is deprived of his seat as a Member of Parliament, thus not only depriving him of his right to political representation, but the deprivation has also been extended to all those who voted for him. But, even though this is so serious, nothing happens. 

A financial network is revealed, of concealment and evasion of money by the former head of state and it is anticipated that the investigation will be filed away for who knows what reasons, but none are compatible with a democratic system. But, even though this is so serious, nothing happens.

Illegal plots are revealed to create evidence and criminal proceedings against certain people who may eventually end up in prison, but whose reputation is at least shattered without them having done anything illegal. But, even though this is so serious, nothing happens.

Confirmed killers are released, in exchange for a freedom they are not entitled to, for involving in criminal acts those who have been previously defined as an enemy, especially through certain media. But, even though this is so serious, nothing happens.

Professional homes and offices are being violated by alleged strangers and in collusion with security companies in order to intimidate those who have previously, and through the media, been portrayed as enemies. But, even though this is so serious, nothing happens. 

Constitutional bodies and their renewal are blocked to create political scenarios through which to impose certain criteria without having majorities or democratic legitimacy. But, even though this is so serious, nothing happens. 

Appointments are made and people who do not meet the requirements of suitability and honesty or independence to form part of the Constitutional Court are elected, with the sole intention, on the one hand, of ensuring certain judicial results and, on the other, to maintain control over organs of obvious constitutional and political significance. But, even though this is so serious, nothing happens.

The resources of the State, that is, those of all of us, are spuriously used to persecute those who have previously been defined as enemies, by creating and recreating absurd and abject criminal proceedings. But, even though this is so serious, nothing happens. 

Constitutional review bodies are used to generate inquisitorial proceedings by which to derive alleged accounting responsibilities against those who have done nothing but implement policies by and for which they were democratically elected. But, even though this is so serious, nothing happens. 

Huge amounts of public resources are spent on the mass espionage of opponents, violating the most basic democratic rules and fundamental rights, thus entering the most reserved privacy of those affected, through their mobile phones. But, even though this is so serious, nothing happens. 

Apparently secret and purportedly criminal documents, with a clear criminalizing intent, are circulated, when they are nothing more than translations of literary works, with the aim of generating criminal cases and tarnishing reputations for free. But even though it is so serious, nothing happens.

International courts are being deceived and the courts of friendly countries are being used spuriously for dark persecutions that have no kind of legal protection and, in doing so, the rights and prerogatives of democratically elected people to represent us in the European Parliament are violated. But even though it is so serious, nothing happens.

The desperation of those who fear being handed over to the United States is used, on the basis of false statements, to generate false evidence with which to open investigations and criminal proceedings against those who have previously been defined as enemies. But even though it is so serious, nothing happens.

Ultranationalist get-togethers are organized to reward certain judges for repressing enemies, and at the same time, they intend to continue arguing that due fairness is preserved and that Europe is to blame. But even though it is so serious, nothing happens.

There are so many cases and examples that several volumes could easily be filled and, to be sure, when the turn of history comes, this will happen, but  the ones I have mentioned are enough to realize that we are facing a accumulation of evidence that should make more than one blush and should worry them all.

There is no State that can resist a general scrutiny of cases and facts like the ones we can see every day in Spain, and yet this is the most worrying thing, no one seems willing to take the bull by the horns and do the only thing that can let us to redirect a putrefaction such as the one around us: to regenerate the system in an integral way.

Only a deeply anesthetized or tremendously cowardly society can afford to keep things as they are up tonow.

In any event, to think, as some do, that nothing is happening amounts to blindly trust the elasticity of cowardice and the solidity of democratic inculturation. Nothing happens ... until everything happens, and I am sure that then, when it's too late, today's cowardly silences will turn into laments. It's not that nothing is happening, it's that everything is happening and sooner or later this system will burst, with the consequences that this will have for everyone.

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