The judge indicts Pedro Sánchez's brother and leaves him on the brink of trial.

MadridThe course of the judicial investigation against David Sánchez, brother of the Spanish Prime Minister, complicates the prospects for both the person under investigation and the Socialist leader, whom the PP has been quick to ask to resign as head of the executive once it has been made public that the judge in Badajoz investigating the case has decided to prosecute David Sánchez for influence peddling. With this decision, to which ARA has had access, the head of the investigating court number three of the Extremadura province, Beatriz Biedma, leaves him on the verge of trial for the case of your hiring as head of the Performing Arts Office at the Badajoz Provincial Council.

The brother of the Spanish president, who has already had to testify as a suspect on two occasions during the investigation phase, is closer to having to sit in the dock alongside ten other people in the same case. Among them are the president of the provincial body and leader of the PSOE in Extremadura, Miguel Ángel Gallardo, and the former advisor to the Moncloa government, Luis Carrero. In a ruling made public this Monday, the Badajoz judge concludes that "there is sufficient evidence of the alleged criminal nature of the alleged conduct and, therefore, the consequence is to continue with the procedure" by sending them to trial.

According to the investigator's account, David Sánchez, "having prior knowledge" that the job "had been created for him, applied for the call and did the interview to simulate the legality of the procedure." He adds that, in addition, "he would have used his influence in the Badajoz Provincial Council to obtain his own benefit." On the one hand, by adapting the conditions of the position to his personal preferences, such as "not having to go to an office every day and dedicating himself to opera," as well as getting Carrero, a person he trusted, hired by the same administration to "directly assist him by working with him in his own office."

Pedro Sánchez's brother has always defended his work as head of the Provincial Council's Performing Arts Office, a position he held. He left when the judicial investigation was already underway due to suspicions that he may have been hired by hand. Sánchez denies the allegations made by far-right activists, who claim that he was paid without showing up to work. In his latest statement, three days ago, he justified his lack of in-person presence by saying that, despite being the head of an office, this "doesn't mean there was a physical building" in which he had to exercise his responsibilities. He also distanced himself from the hiring of the former advisor to the Moncloa government.

The Spanish government defends it

The first reaction from the Spanish president's entourage came from the Minister of Digital Transformation and Public Service, Óscar López, who had not yet received any information about the ruling. In a media address, he did not deviate from the script of placing this legal case in what the Moncloa government calls the "mud machine." "It's the modus operandi "It's common: a far-right organization files a false complaint to persecute the president's entourage. And I'm absolutely certain it will come to nothing," she stated.

In the ruling, the head of the Investigative Court No. 3 of Badajoz establishes a period of 10 days for the Prosecutor's Office and the prosecution to take a position on the opening of an oral trial or, if they so deem it, to request it.