The presiding judge of the instruction court number 41 in Madrid, Juan Carlos Peinado, held the preliminary hearing on Tuesday afternoon with the parties involved in the case of Begoña Gómez, the wife of the Prime Minister, Pedro Sánchez. This is the step prior to the order to open the oral trial that will seat the accused on the bench for the crimes of influence peddling and embezzlement, and her assistant, Cristina Álvarez, who is only charged with the second crime.
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The hearing was initially scheduled to take place at 18:00, but it began at 19:15 and ended at 19:45, after a delay at the start to wait for Gómez’s lawyer, Jaime Campaner, who was coming from another hearing in Barcelona.
With this preliminary hearing, the investigating judge closes the investigation of the case. After this hearing, Peinado must issue the order to open the trial, but the magistrate is taking vacation this week and is scheduled to retire on September 27.
At the hearing, the parties reaffirmed their positions. Thus, the wife of the Prime Minister opposed the opening of the trial against her with a popular jury and requested her acquittal.
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The Prime Minister’s wife’s lawyer requested the dismissal of the case from the judge, as did the defense of Cristina Álvarez, Gómez’s assistant, and the Public Prosecutor’s Office, which requested her acquittal, according to legal sources.
For its part, the popular prosecution led by Hazte Oír maintained its position and requested the opening of the oral trial, as well as sentences of 13 years in prison for Gómez and six years for Álvarez, in her case for alleged embezzlement.
After this hearing, the instruction phase of this case ends, in which the wife of Sánchez and her assistant are investigated for the chair co-directed by Gómez at the Complutense University of Madrid and the tasks of Álvarez in Moncloa.
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