The Catalan Ombudsman of the Valencian Community, Angel Luna, has formally warned the mayor of Orihuela, Emilio Bascuñana, that he will be denounced for disobedience unless he sends, within ten days, a report that has been requested on 3 occasions.
The High Commissioner of Les Corts has already said that he would denounce to the Prosecutor’s Office those who, repeatedly, fail to respond to his requests for information, thus hindering research work in defence of the rights of citizens.
In a statement, the department stressed that article 502.02 of the Criminal Code states that any authority that hinders an investigation of the Ombudsman, Court of Accounts or equivalent bodies of the Autonomous Communities, will be punished for “the crime of disobedience.”
In the case of Orihuela, the officer making the complaint went to the City Council in May 2016 to file an appeal for review of administrative acts and in three years “has not received any response.” Therefore, in 2019 he went to the Síndic de Greuges, and requested that they seek an initial report from the municipal administration.
In the absence of a response to the original report, the Síndic repeated its request by letters dated 3/09/2019, 10/16/2019 and 11/22/2019, “but as yet the City Council of Orihuela has not yet responded in any way.”
On Tuesday, 11 February, the Síndic then sent a registered letter to the mayor of Orihuela to inform him that “if after 10 business days he does not send the requested report, his lack of response will be declared an obstacle to the investigation and will be denounced to the Fiscal Ministry.”
