Judge Manuel García Castellón, now retired and known for investigating some of Spain’s most notorious cases in recent decades, has just published a book called “Speak as You Know”. This journey through his professional life … If you like, it can serve as an excuse to tell him about mortal sins.
-I forgive you your sins.
-Well, I love to eat, and I love Spanish food. But I’m older and have diabetes, so I have to take care of myself. The will is against sin.
– But it is not a sin to forgive because of commitment, and it is not a sin to forgive because of a desire to do so.
– Well, the difference is that before I was eating two servings, now I’m eating half. But I enjoy the medium.
-You just came up with the concept of “Half Enjoyment”.
-That’s half a sin.
-And which is the most difficult to apologize to others?
– It’s not a mortal sin in itself, but I can’t stand lying. Allowed only when extremely necessary.
-Could you give me an example?
– When you cannot tell the truth because there is a high possibility of hurting the other party, or in case of force majeure.
“I only accept lying when it’s extremely necessary, when I can’t tell the truth because it might hurt someone, or in cases of force majeure.”
– Is it also almost a sin that you do not forgive yourself?
– Yes, especially since in Spain we see examples of people in power lying. I’m even more cautious. French philosopher Jean-François Revel, in his book “Useless Knowledge,” said that the first force that controls the world is lies.
– and we are witnessing it today.
– What’s really serious is that it’s being done by those in power. It may not be relevant for me, so please leave it to a private person.
-Have you ever lied due to force majeure? Can you count?
-I talked about it back then, and I can talk about it now because I’m not embarrassed. During the talks in France, when I was acting as a liaison judge in France, facilitating the immediate exchange of information between the two countries. This meant that if anyone close to ETA or its leaders seized documents in France, the information was immediately passed on to the relevant authorities in Spain, and exactly the same in the other direction. The agreement was scheduled to be signed in Málaga during the last year of José María Aznar’s tenure as government president and Jean-Pierre Raffarin as French prime minister. In preparation for that conference, we held a conference at the Judiciary School in Bordeaux. We asked the French to sign that document because of the frequent deaths, but the French did not want to sign it. It reminded me of the murder of the region’s governor in Corsica in 2000, and that the murderer, Ivan Colonna, was France’s most wanted man. And I bluffed. There was news that this murderer was on the Costa del Sol, and they said that if that agreement was not signed, when he was arrested, that is, when he was arrested, they would not be able to rely on that information. And they signed.
-It was about saving lives.
-surely. That’s what I mean when I say lying out of extreme necessity. I did it and I would do it again.
-I think that would exonerate him.
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