Colonel Sánchez Corbí, in his office when he headed the UCO, during an interview he gave to EL PAÍS in January 2018, months before his dismissal, CARLOS ROSILLO
The Supreme Court this Monday published the verdict confirming the decision of Interior Minister Fernando Grande-Marlaska to dismiss in August 2018 Colonel of the Civil Guard Manuel Sánchez Corbí as head of the Central Operative Unit (UCO), the main investigative unit of the Guardia Civil in the fight against corruption and organized crime. In the ruling, the meaning of which was presented on September 20, the five judges of the Fourth Section of the Dispute Administration Chamber concluded that the dismissal had “clear, sufficient and reasonable justification” for the loss of confidence it had at its disposal presented it and was therefore adjusted to legality.
With this judgment, the Supreme Court rejects the appeal of the Supreme Court and supports the two judgments that the National Court issued in December 2019 and in July of the following year in the same vein. The Supreme Court is yet to rule on another controversial dismissal of a senior Civil Guard official, also Colonel Diego Pérez de los Cobos, who was also sacked by Grande-Marlaska on a suspicion of a lack of confidence after details of a Guard inquiry leaked to the Civil press about the Women’s Day demonstration in Madrid on March 8, 2020 and its alleged link to the spread of Covid-19.
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Sánchez Corbí’s sacking came shortly after Grande-Marlaska took over as Interior Officer and was the result of an email sent by the high command to his subordinates. In that message, the Colonel reported that the unit’s reserved coffers had been exhausted and “any activity requiring the use of funds from this item” had been suspended. Interior, where at the time a hidden struggle was taking place between the Guardia Civil and the National Police over power quotas in the reorganization promoted by Grande-Marlaska, interpreted the news leaked to the press as torture and ordered the dismissal of Sánchez Corbí, since he had suspended ongoing operations without authorization.
The dismissal of the high command, who had held the post since December 2015, caused uneasiness in the armed institute and opened a chasm in relations with the minister. Months later, Sánchez Corbí was transferred to a non-operational position as head of the Protection and Security Service (Seprose), responsible for the Guardia Civil’s relations with private security companies. In February 2021, the Colonel requested his release from active duty to join private company, specifically the Acciona Group.
In their resolution announced this Monday, the judges, in line with the two sentences of the National Supreme Court, believe that any dismissal in a position of free appointment of the administration requires a statement of reasons in which they “set out clearly the reasons for this loss Trust develops, which is indispensable for the exercise of such an office”, so that the person concerned can “defend themselves”. For the Supreme Court, this motivation existed in the specific case of Sánchez Corbí, when he explained to Interior in the termination order that it was done by sending the email ordering his subordinates to shut down operations “without any direction from him having received organ controls or judicial authorities or public prosecutors jeopardize the success of police and judicial operations.
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For the judges, this inner text constitutes “a clear, sufficient, understandable and specific reasoning for the case” without calling these explanations “general or standardized”. The verdict highlights that the colonel himself “was aware of the reasons that led to his dismissal and acted accordingly, as evidenced by the arguments put forward in his defense in successive appeals”.
The judgment also rejects that the dismissal was a “neither overt nor covert” disciplinary measure, as Sánchez Corbí stated in his appeal, and stresses that it “did not constitute an affront to the applicant’s professionalism”. The ruling is reminiscent of a September 2019 High Court ruling which concluded that vacant positions do not give those who fill them a “right to be employed in that particular position”. For all these reasons, the court dismisses the appeal and upholds the National High Court’s ruling.
High media command
Colonel Manuel Sánchez Corbí was head of the UCO for more than two years. Coming from the fight against ETA, the colonel established investigative methods in the unit similar to those that were successful against terrorism. With him at the head of the unit, numerous cases of corruption such as Púnica, Lezo or Angora were uncovered and crimes such as that of little Gabriel Cruz or Diana Quer solved. Her face became popular precisely after the arrest of José Enrique Abuín, El Chicle, as the author of the young woman’s death. Sánchez Corbí starred in a crowded press conference, broadcast live by most TV channels, in which he detailed the case and criticized the role of the media.