Peinado sends Begoña Gómez to trial and from the Moncloa they denounce "judicial persecution"

MadridJudge Juan Carlos Peinado sends the wife of the Spanish Prime Minister, Begoña Gómez, to trial. This Monday, he issued the order to open an oral trial for crimes of embezzlement and influence peddling, and she is expected to sit in the dock before a jury. This is the second time Peinado has made this move, as he also did so in June, but now he does so having been nuanced and also endorsed by the Provincial Court of Madrid.

At first, the judge attributed up to four crimes to Gómez and withdrew her passport, but the Court corrected him by archiving two crimes—business corruption and misappropriation—and suppressing the precautionary measures. However, it endorsed the bulk of Peinado's investigation: the instructor's thesis is that Sánchez's wife benefited from being the partner of the Prime Minister to create the chair linked to the Complutense University of Madrid and that she later diverted software created within its framework for "private purposes".

In the same vein, Peinado also sends Cristina Álvarez, who is Begoña Gómez's advisor at Moncloa, to trial for the same crimes. The magistrate's decision comes just a week before his retirement: he will end his career this very Sunday, September 27th.

La Moncloa did not take long to react. Sources from the Spanish government have condemned Judge Peinado's decision, as they consider that during the investigation the innocence of Pedro Sánchez's wife has been "clearly demonstrated." "We are sure that this will be proven at trial. We maintain full confidence that the jury will be impartial and will serve justice," they express.

In the opinion of La Moncloa, this is an "arbitrary and unfair" investigation that only responds to the "judicial persecution against Gómez for being the wife of the President of the Government." A complaint that Pedro Sánchez himself has made repeatedly in recent weeks. In the recent interview he gave to El Intermedio on La Sexta, he accused Peinado of having done "great harm" to justice.

Sánchez, on a trip

The Spanish government also notes that Peinado issues this court order during Sánchez's international trip to the United Nations General Assembly. A fact that is not isolated: they recall that this judge tends to make decisions related to Gómez coinciding with Sánchez's agenda abroad. For example, the day he decided to close the investigation the Spanish president had an important trip to China, where he also went accompanied by Gómez. "The political intention, the harassment, and the dehumanization are unquestionable," they denounce bluntly. Also from the PSOE they denounce the origin of the case: they highlight that it was initiated by the impulse of the far-right pseudo-union Manos Limpias and that the Prosecutor's Office has maintained a contrary position in the proceedings. However, what is certain is that if Begoña Gómez ends up being tried, it is because not only does Peinado believe there is evidence: it has also been endorsed by the Provincial Court of Madrid.