The climax of the trial against David Sánchez at the Badajoz Court is approaching, concerning the alleged crimes of malfeasance and influence peddling. The brother of the Prime Minister will testify this Thursday and will have the opportunity to defend himself against accusations that he was given a job at the Badajoz Provincial Council in 2017. Also testifying in this fifth session of the trial will be the former president of the Provincial Council and former secretary general of the PSOE of Extremadura, Miguel Ángel Gallardo, accused of having designed a senior management position tailored for David Sánchez.
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David Sánchez has already spent four days in the dock and has faced the worst moment to rebut the accusations. His testimony comes after the alleged schemes orchestrated by Leire Díez’s network, the PSOE plumber, to try to annul David Sánchez’s trial, overseen by magistrate Beatriz Biedma, were revealed today. The judge of the National Court Santiago Pedraz lifted the secrecy of the investigation into Leire Díez last week. Part of the content of that investigation was made public yesterday.
According to that documentation, an agent of the Central Operative Unit of the Civil Guard (UCO) reported in 2024 that the then director general of the Benemérita (DAO), Leonardo Marcos, ordered them to “stand aside” in the investigation they were conducting on David Sánchez. The DAO had also requested that the report on the case of the Prime Minister’s brother be ready as soon as possible and that “there be nothing,” according to the same witness, who responded to that demand that “it was materially impossible.”
Furthermore, the investigation into the plumber’s case includes a statement before the UCO by former judge Luis José Sáenz de Tejada, who explained that he met in an apartment in Madrid with Leire Díez and businessman Javier Pérez Dolset, who asked him for information about “judges and officials,” including Biedma. In return, Díez and Dolset promised the judge, who was expelled from the judiciary, professional rehabilitation. They also allegedly offered him to take on the defense of David Sánchez to “challenge Judge Biedma.” That plan was not carried out because David Sánchez “decided to continue with the lawyer he had at that time.”
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Nothing indicates that David Sánchez was aware of these alleged schemes and he may not have to face them on the stand tomorrow because it is expected that he will only answer his lawyer’s questions. His testimony, and Gallardo’s, will be crucial in tipping the balance of this trial in his favor or against him. About forty witnesses have testified during the process. Most are employees of the Badajoz Provincial Council and have testified in favor of David Sánchez. They have stated that they were unaware of possible rigging when awarding him the position of coordinator of conservatories and that, regarding his possible entry into the Badajoz Provincial Council, “there were only rumors.”
Those same witnesses have said, however, that they did not consider that senior management position necessary and would have preferred that a music teacher or pianist be hired. They also reported that the position lacked content and that it was the conservatory directors themselves who took on the task of assigning functions to it. David Sánchez joined the Badajoz Provincial Council in 2017 and changed in 2024 to the position of director of the Performing Arts Office. Only one of the witnesses was able to explain what that office consists of.
For David Sánchez’s interests, the most damaging testimony this morning was that of the head of economic crimes of the UCO, Antonio Balas, who read a series of intercepted emails during the investigation that would prove that the position awarded to the Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez’s brother “was predetermined.” Additionally, one of his rivals for the position of coordinator of conservatories declared that she knew in advance that “the position was for David Sánchez.” A former Podemos deputy stated that he found the contest rules “strange.” And a real estate agent said that David Sánchez told him he was looking for an apartment because he was going to live in Badajoz before the interview.
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