Begoña Gómez, wife of the Prime Minister, Pedro Sánchez, has requested her full acquittal this Friday ahead of the jury trial she will face for the crimes of influence peddling and embezzlement. In her defense statement, which this newspaper has had access to, she denies all accusations, both those related to the creation of the chair at the Complutense University of Madrid and the software, as well as those concerning the assistance she received in her professional work from her personal advisor at La Moncloa, Cristina Álvarez, who is also accused in the trial.
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In the statement, her defense argues that Gómez “did not influence or exert moral pressure” on the rector or vice-rector of the University “nor on any other authority or official by taking advantage of her marital relationship to obtain the creation of the extraordinary chair she directed.” It also maintains that the management of this “has not brought Begoña any economic benefit.” The Prime Minister’s wife “has not been paid for directing the extraordinary chair,” her defense reiterates in the statement, emphasizing that Gómez “has performed her duties free of charge for four years.”
The Provincial Court of Madrid, which ratified the jury trial for the Prime Minister’s wife, found indications of “her participation in alleged crimes of influence peddling committed by a private individual both in relation to the creation of the chair and in the intermediation in favor of Juan Carlos Barrabés.” It also considered that there are indications of the crime of “embezzlement of public assets committed by a public official” in relation to the use of the software created within the framework of that chair – the crime of misappropriation of the platform initially attributed to her was finally redirected to this embezzlement for technical reasons -.
In this regard, Gómez’s defense also denies the accusations. “Begoña at no time acted with the intention of enriching herself,” the statement reads in reference to this, also assuring that the Prime Minister’s wife “did not appropriate the technological platform” – which is the first thesis put forward by the popular accusation – “nor did she use it for private purposes without intending to appropriate it” – second thesis -. “The technological platform has always been conceived as the property of the UCM [Complutense University of Madrid],” Gómez’s defense insists, also pointing out that the University “did not suffer any patrimonial damage”: “The expenses related to the development of the platform were financed with contributions made by the collaborating entities.”
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The Provincial Court of Madrid also found indications of embezzlement in the “use for private purposes” of Gómez’s personal assistant, “designated as the wife of the Prime Minister.” Regarding the role Álvarez had in the private business of Sánchez’s spouse, the defense statement argues that the “general function” of this advisor “is to support all activities that have traditionally been carried out by the Prime Minister’s spouse, both institutional in nature and private or professional.”
“Cristina provides the necessary help to coordinate, organize, and manage all her functions, not only institutional but also family, private, and professional,” Gómez’s defense maintains, although it assures that the advisor “has not neglected her duties as assistant to the Prime Minister’s wife by helping her in various matters related to the extraordinary chair.” Among the documentation to which Gómez’s defense refers ahead of the trial are, among others, the memoirs of Ana Botella – wife of former Prime Minister José María Aznar – and other references to the work carried out by advisors to spouses of heads of government.
The popular accusation demands a 13-year prison sentence for Begoña Gómez for one crime of influence peddling (two years) and two of embezzlement (11 years) – for the use of the software and for the activity Álvarez performed in the private professional tasks of the Prime Minister’s wife -. Her defense, however, requests her full acquittal and the imposition of legal costs on the popular accusation and the civil plaintiff for their “reckless procedural conduct.” If there is no early election, the jury trial of Sánchez’s wife could be held before the next general elections.
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