“I need to stop and reflect. “If I should continue at the head of the Government or give up this high honor.” With that phrase the president of Spain admitted, Pedro Sanchezwho is considering resigning from office, after a Madrid court opened a preliminary investigation into his wife Begoña Gómez for the crime of influence peddling and corruption.
The court did not provide further details, since the case is under summary secrecy and is preliminary, and only said that it was initiated following a complaint filed by the anti-corruption group Clean handswhose leader is linked to the extreme right.
Clean hands claims that Gómez used her influence as the wife of the president of the Government to obtain sponsors for a university master’s degree that she directed.
Sánchez told lawmakers in Congress after the news was confirmed that he had faith in the judicial system. “On a day like today, and despite the news that I have learned, despite everything, I continue to believe in the justice of my country.”Sanchez said.
Clean hands uses a unique Spanish legal instrument known as “popular accusation” to file criminal complaints against third parties.
Judges can decide whether or not to pursue such complaints and not all accusations have given rise to a judicial investigation.
However, some have done so:he Clean Hands accusations against Infanta Cristina, youngest daughter of King Juan Carlos, led to her prosecution for complicity in tax fraud. Her husband was convicted of fraud and tax evasion, but she was acquitted.
Earlier this month, a complaint against Sánchez over the law that granted amnesty to Catalan politicians due to the region’s independence drive was not admitted by the Supreme Court. “They use a false complaint from a far-right organization to defame and insult the presidency of the Government,” the first vice president of the Government, María Jesús Montero, told the press, while the main opposition party, the Popular Party, asked for explanations. to Sanchez.
In ItcorduroyPoliticians of all stripes routinely accuse each other along with members of their families and associates of corruption and there have been some high-profile scandals that resulted in convictions.
Pedro Sánchez came to power in 2018 when the previous conservative government lost a vote of no confidence following a corruption scandal.
Source: Ambito
