Begoña Gómez stands up to Judge Peinado

MadridThere was an unusual appointment this Saturday afternoon at the courthouse in Madrid's Plaza de Castilla. Judge Juan Carlos Peinado had summoned the Spanish president's wife, Begoña Gómez, at 6 p.m. to inform her of his decision. this week: that if she is tried, it will be by a jury, because she is accused of embezzlement of public funds. Now, Pedro Sánchez's partner has decided to renounce the investigating judge and delegate her appearance to her lawyer, former Socialist minister Antonio Camacho.

Along with Gómez, Peinado had also summoned her advisor at the Moncloa Palace, Cristina Álvarez, and the Spanish government delegate in Madrid, Francisco Martín, who had previously been Secretary General of the Presidency. Neither of them appeared in court; their lawyers did so on their behalf. What are they accused of? According to the investigating judge, the Ministry of the Presidency hired an advisor, Cristina Álvarez, who did not actually work for the Moncloa Palace but was in charge of managing the private affairs of the wife of President Pedro Sánchez.

Despite the unusual summons, it is a mere formality because the investigation period has not ended and the parties can still request further proceedings. This is a separate piece of the main case, which began with a complaint from the far-right platform Manos Limpias and in which Peinado is investigating the businesswoman for other crimes such as business corruption, intrusion, influence peddling, and misappropriation.

This Saturday was not the first time that Begoña Gómez has faced Peinado, because she has already called him to testify up to four times. The last was September 10th The hearing lasted only two minutes and involved three questions: Sánchez's wife only answered questions from his defense. According to legal sources, at the time, she explained that Álvarez occasionally helped her with private matters, in addition to managing her schedule and public activities.

The legal argument

How did Begoña Gómez argue for her absence this Saturday? As her lawyer explained to the media, she relied on a December 1995 Prosecutor's Office circular regarding the jury trial, which states that the presence of those under investigation "is a right but not an obligation." "It has never been suggested at any time that my client had to be here," she ruled, in addition to denying any wrongdoing and arguing that she had no obligation to notify the judge in advance.

The Minister of Digital Transformation, Óscar López, had his say. At an event, he addressed the People's Party (PP) to indicate that this week Spain had "shined" at the UN for the defense of the Palestinian cause by Sánchez and King Felipe VI, and that "there is no such thing." hairstyle"that "covers up Alberto Nuñez Feijóo's shortcomings and Isabel Díaz Ayuso's shady dealings." The court's decision to try Gómez by jury coincided this week with the opening of the oral trial against Díaz Ayuso's partner, Alberto González Amador, and has also focused on Sánchez.