Spanish court summons Prime Minister Sanchez’s wife on corruption charges

MADRID: A Madrid court has summoned Begona Gomez, the wife of Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez, to appear before a judge on July 5 in connection with charges of corruption and influence peddling that led her husband to consider resigning in April.

The investigative court said on Tuesday that the request was made as part of a preliminary investigation into whether he had abused his position to influence business deals.

In late April, Sánchez said he would stay in his post, but he considered resigning after taking a five-day leave because of a court investigation into his wife, an investigation he said was baseless and being carried out by right-wing political opponents.

In a letter shared on X on Tuesday, Sánchez said he found it “strange” that the court had decided to summon his wife just days before this weekend’s European Parliament elections and that the right-wing opposition is doing everything in its power to break them down.

“I want to tell you that my decision to continue leading the government is firmer than ever,” Sánchez said.

The Madrid prosecution authority appealed to have the case dismissed for lack of evidence, but the investigating judge rejected it.

The opposition has on several occasions demanded the resignation of Sanchez, who leads Spain’s minority left-wing coalition government.

The case was brought through a private complaint by Manos Limpias, or Clean Hands, an anti-corruption activist group led by Miguel Bernard, a lawyer and politician who is running as a candidate for a far-right party in the European elections.

Manos Limpias alleged that Begoña Gómez used her influence as the prime minister’s wife to obtain sponsors for a master’s degree course at the university.

Gomez has not made any public comment since the court began the investigation in late April.

The case has sparked an international stir. Last month, Spain recalled its ambassador from Buenos Aires after Argentine President Javier Maielli called Gomez “corrupt” during a far-right rally in Madrid.

Argentina maintains its ambassador in Madrid.

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(This story has not been edited by News18 staff and is published from a syndicated news agency feed – Reuters)