The judge replacing Peinado allows Begoña Gómez to go to her daughter's graduation but not to the NATO summit

MadridJuan Carlos Peinado has shaken off the pressure and gone on vacation without resolving Begoña Gómez's request to be allowed to leave Spain. The judge who had to step in has ended up being Antonio Viejo Llorente, the same one investigating Isabel Díaz Ayuso's partner. His decision has been not to allow Pedro Sánchez's wife to travel to Ankara to attend the NATO summit, which will be held from July 7 to 8, mainly because Turkey does not belong to the European Union and, therefore, he considers that a hypothetical extradition would be more complicated. However, he does allow her to travel to London to attend her daughter's graduation, which will be on Friday the 10th.

How exactly does the magistrate justify the two decisions? In the three-page order, Viejo Llorente argues that Begoña Gómez was invited to the NATO meeting out of “institutional courtesy” and will not have an “active intervention,” and stresses that he does not authorize the trip because Turkey is not part of the EU's “space of freedom, security, and justice,” which “facilitates” “police and judicial cooperation.” On the other hand, he allows her to go to the United Kingdom, referring to the “good relationship of judicial cooperation” between the two countries, even after Brexit and despite the “nature” of the event.

Begoña Gómez alleged that she was invited to the NATO summit by Emine Erdogan, the Turkish president's wife, and stated that she would travel with the “Spanish delegation” on an “official plane” and accompanied by the Spanish president's “security team.” Her intention was to return on a “commercial flight” via the United Kingdom to accompany her daughter to her graduation. The Prosecutor's Office was in favor of allowing both trips, but Hazte Oír, which leads the popular prosecutions, opposed both requests. In the first case, the ultra-Catholic organization argued that the figure of the first lady “does not exist” in the Spanish legal system and maintained that Begoña Gómez received a “private invitation to a parallel program” to participate in “activities of mere courtesy and strictly voluntary attendance.” In the second case, it alleged that due to Brexit, the bilateral extradition procedure has “greater delays and conditions” than European arrest warrants. Manos Limpias, on the other hand, was in favor of the trip to Turkey because it considered it “usual” at Atlantic Alliance summits.

Begoña Gómez, who faces 24 years in prison for four crimes, has had to request permission because Judge Juan Carlos Peinado confiscated her passport after sending her to trial. Her lawyer, Antonio Camacho, filed the request six days ago, but Peinado did not resolve it before going on vacation and has left it in the hands of his substitutes. However, the first person who should have studied it – who replaces him “naturally” during the summer – has also started their vacation, so – as legal sources confirm to ARA – the second on the list has had to take charge.

Antonio Viejo was Secretary General of Justice Administration when Pedro Sánchez arrived at Moncloa. He was the highest responsible for a body integrated into the organic structure of the Ministry of Justice: he directs and coordinates the secretaries of the Spanish government and is at the pinnacle of the superior legal corps of justice administration lawyers. He left the position in February 2020, after the coalition executive between the PSOE and Unidas Podemos was formed.

The confiscation of the Spanish president's wife's passport was accompanied by much controversy. Judge Peinado justified that the agents escorting her could help her flee by “their own initiative” or “following orders from their hierarchical superiors”, an insinuation that put police unions at odds with the judge and caused the divided Judicial Power to open a process to reprimand him.opened a process to reprimand him.

Feijóo considered it “inappropriate” for Gómez to travel to Turkey

First thing in the morning, the leader of the PP, Alberto Núñez Feijóo, stated that it is "improper" for Begoña Gómez to be "strolling through international forums" and - without committing to precautionary measures - has asked to "avoid at all costs" any "commentary" that other world leaders may make about her. In the same vein, the spokesperson for the Popular Party, Borja Sémper, argued that it is "reasonable" to say that the Spanish president's wife is not the "best representation" or the "best image" of Spain. For his part, the Minister of Transport, Óscar Puente, said that Peinado has avoided commenting because he is a "coward".