Spanish judge summons PM's wife Begoña Gómez to June 9 preliminary hearing, warns of force if she fails to appear
Judge Juan Carlos Peinado has summoned Begoña Gómez, wife of Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez, to a preliminary hearing on June 9 as a final step before deciding whether to send her to trial by jury on corruption charges.
The summons
Judge Juan Carlos Peinado has summoned Begoña Gómez, her assistant Cristina Álvarez, and businessman Juan Carlos Barrabés to a preliminary hearing on June 9 at 11:00 a.m. The hearing is the final procedural step before the judge decides whether to open a trial by popular jury. All three have been declared formally accused in the case.
Deberán comparecer personalmente los tres acusados, con apercibimiento expreso de ser conducidos por la fuerza pública.
Charges and penalties
The three face serious charges including influence peddling, business corruption, misappropriation, and embezzlement of public funds. The judge noted that influence peddling carries prison terms of 6 months to 2 years, business corruption 6 months to 4 years, embezzlement 6 months to 3 years, and misappropriation 1 to 6 years. Peinado justified the mandatory in-person appearance by citing the severity of potential sentences, which he said could provoke attempts to evade justice.
Se podría adoptar alguna medida cautelar de naturaleza personal que evite o minimice el riesgo de tratar de eludir la acción de la justicia por parte de los acusados.
The investigation
The case centers on activities related to Gómez's university chair at the Complutense University of Madrid. A recent report from the Central Operative Unit of the Civil Guard found no irregular banking movements but detected dysfunctions in the contracting of two companies to develop software for her chair. The university itself appears as a private prosecutor in the case, claiming harm from the alleged misappropriation of the chair's software.
The hearing procedure
Under Spain's jury law, once the defense has submitted its written arguments, the judge schedules a preliminary hearing to determine whether to proceed to trial. At the June 9 hearing, the defense teams may propose additional proceedings. The court will then hear arguments from all parties — including the prosecution, the unified popular accusations led by Hazte Oír, and the Complutense University as private accuser — on whether to open a trial and on the jury court's competence.
Next steps
Once the preliminary hearing concludes, Judge Peinado must decide within three days whether to open oral proceedings. That decision is not subject to appeal before the Provincial Court of Madrid. If the defense renounces the hearing and accepts the opening of trial, the judge would decree it immediately without further proceedings.
