Simon Hunter
THE Spanish prime minister, Pedro Sanchez, has been notified by a judge that he will have to testify as a witness in an ongoing judicial probe into accusations of influence peddling and corruption against his wife, Begoña Gomez.
The Socialist Party leader will be questioned by Judge Juan Carlos Peinado in La Moncloa palace, the seat of government, on July 30 at 11am, according to reports in the Spanish press.
On Friday, Gomez herself appeared in court but opted to not respond to questions, on the advice of her lawyer.
The case against Gomez first came to light in April, when she was accused by trade union Manos Limpias (Clean Hands) of using her position as the prime minister’s wife to influence her business dealings.
Manos Limpias, which has links to the far right, accused her of securing sponsors for a university master’s course she ran thanks to her position, among other accusations.
The union’s case, however, was based on eight newspaper reports about her activities, some of which had already been debunked as being false.
The lawsuit against her has since been joined by the far-right Vox party, as well as Iustitia Europa, which is best known for campaigning against restrictions imposed by the Spanish government during the Covid-19 pandemic, news agency Reuters reports.
Meanwhile, another complaint has been filed against her by an ultra-Catholic group called Hazte Oir (Make Yourself Heard).
Madrid prosecutors have called for the case to be thrown out.
Allegations against her of influence peddling relating to European Union funds are going to be investigated separately, in this case by European prosecutors.
After news of the case hit the headlines, Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez took the unprecedented step of pausing his public duties while he considered whether or not to resign.
While his wife has not publicly commented on the case, Sanchez has repeatedly insisted that she has done nothing wrong.
After news emerged today in Spanish media that Sanchez had been called by the judge to testify, the main opposition Partido Popular called for him to resign.
Vox, meanwhile, said that it ‘would not rest’ until it ‘ousted the corrupt clan that is occupying La Moncloa and they pay before a court’.
