Judge summons Spanish Prime Minister as witness in case against his wife
Armando G. Tejeda
Correspondent
The newspaper La Jornada
Tuesday, July 23, 2024, p. 27
Madrid. Judge Juan Carlos Peinado has summoned the president of the Spanish government, the socialist Pedro Sánchez, to testify as a witness in the judicial proceedings opened against his wife, Begoña Gómez, for the alleged crimes of corruption in business and influence peddling. Given his position and position, the 41st investigating judge of Madrid will travel to the official residence of La Moncloa, where the president lives, to take his statement, provided that Sánchez himself decides to accept the judicial appearance and answer the judge’s questions.
It is considered convenient, useful and pertinent to take a statement from the husband of the person under investigation.Judge Peinado stated in an order, thus admitting the request made by the private prosecution of the far-right union Manos Limpias.
The case against Begoña Gómez, who last Friday invoked her right not to testify, aims to investigate her private activities around the creation of a master’s degree in the acquisition of public funds through the Complutense University of Madrid and for which, allegedly, she used public assets, in addition to favoring her partners, especially the businessman Juan Carlos Barrabés, with the awarding of contracts worth more than 20 million euros (360 million pesos), with the public administration.
The rector of the Complutense University, Joaquín Goyache, is also involved in the process, for granting a chair to Gómez without complying with the requirements of the institution, and for using a computer program created ad hoc by two multinationals and a state-owned company, which was –supposedly– registered by Gómez herself in her name.
Process without guarantees
The Spanish government accused the judge of carrying out a unfair process without guarantees against Pedro Sánchez’s wife, who, if she appears, will become the fourth president in history to appear as a witness in a judicial process, in this case for corruption.
The Popular Party demanded the resignation of Sánchez, and Vox, which joined the accusations against Gomez, warned: We will not rest until we evict the corrupt clan that occupies La Moncloa and make them pay in court.