Spain: Pedro Sánchez refuses to testify against his wife, under investigation for influence peddling

The president of the Spanish government, Pedro Sánchez, refused to testify in the case opened against his wife, Begoña Gómez, who is being investigated for influence peddling and business corruption.

The investigating judge, Juan Carlos Peinado, went to the Palacio de la Moncloa, headquarters of the Presidency of Spain, so that Sánchez could respond on the case opened against his wife. The Judge required the socialist president to testify as a witness.

Sánchez decided not to testify, a right guaranteed by the Spanish Constitution, and therefore did not answer any of the questions asked by Judge Peinado about his wife.

According to AFP, the judicial interrogation lasted about 20 minutes, as assured by lawyers for the prosecution. On the other hand, Gomez's defense said it was only two minutes of questions.

Sánchez files a complaint against Judge Peinado

Minutes after refusing to testify, Sánchez filed a complaint against Judge Peinado for prevarication through the State Attorney General's Office, the body that provides legal assistance to the public entity, newspaper El Mundo reported.

VOX: "We are going to have another Maduro in Spain"

The opposition reacted quickly after Sánchez invoked his right not to testify against his wife.

Alberto Núñez Feijóo, president of the Popular Party (PP) and leader of the opposition, assured that Sánchez "will answer to the Spaniards for so many injustices."

More forceful was Santiago Abascal. The leader of VOX, the conservative party that has appeared as a prosecutor in the investigation against Gómez, said that filing a complaint against Judge Peinado means "initiating a hunt against judges who dare to uphold the law." Furthermore, he said that, at this rate, the country is going to have "another Maduro."

The case against Begoña Gómez

In mid-April, information came to light about a possible court case related to Gómez for allegedly committing crimes of influence peddling and commercial corruption. As soon as the news broke, Sánchez issued a public statement in which he said that he was considering resigning as president of the Spanish government.

However, this approach made by the Socialist leader turned out to be just words and, a few days later, he reappeared to say that he would continue to lead the Spanish government: "I have made the decision to continue with my work."

On May 28, The courts announced that there would be a case against Gómez. A week later, she was called to testify for the first time.

The investigation against Gomez has also crossed international borders. Sánchez and his cabinet attacked the president of Argentina, Javier Milei, after he mentioned Gomez's corruption case on one occasion. Such was the severity of the diplomatic crisis that the Spanish government even summoned the Argentine ambassador to make a public apology.