A Spanish judge has ordered Begoña Gomez, the wife of Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez, to stand trial on corruption charges and has barred her from leaving the country, according to a court order released on Saturday.
Investigating judge Juan Carlos Peinado ordered Gomez to surrender her passport, barred her from leaving Spain and required her to report to court twice a month until a verdict is issued, as reported by multiple outlets including Al Jazeera, Deutsche Welle, The Guardian, the Jerusalem Post, South China Morning Post and The Hindu.
The court said "instructions shall be issued to all border posts and civilian and military airports" to ensure Gomez complies with the ban on leaving the country, according to Deutsche Welle and the South China Morning Post.
Gomez is accused of using her position as the prime minister's wife to secure work contracts. She denies any wrongdoing. The case stems from a complaint filed by Manos Limpias (Clean Hands), a legal pressure group set up by a lawyer with ties to the far right, as reported by Al Jazeera and Deutsche Welle.
The investigation centers on an academic chair at Madrid's Complutense University that Gomez co-directed, along with allegations that she used public resources and personal connections to advance private business interests. Gomez was formally charged in April with embezzlement, influence peddling, corruption in business dealings and misappropriation of funds.
Judge Peinado has also charged Gomez's personal assistant, Cristina Álvarez, and a businessman, Juan Carlos Barrabés, in connection with the case, according to The Guardian. All three have denied wrongdoing and are expected to face a jury trial.
No date has yet been set for the trial.
The Socialist Party (PSOE) reacted to the ruling on social media platform X, saying: "[Gomez] has been subjected to judicial and political persecution for two years. Today's development is another step in that process," as reported by the Jerusalem Post, Deutsche Welle and The Hindu.
Sanchez has repeatedly dismissed the case against his wife as a baseless and politically motivated smear, and has accused his political and media opponents of pursuing his family. He has also openly questioned the impartiality of some members of the judiciary, according to The Guardian.
The case is one of several corruption investigations involving Sanchez's allies that are approaching trial or already before the courts, increasing pressure on the prime minister.
Several close allies, including the Socialist Party's number three and Sanchez's former transport minister, are under investigation in cases involving alleged kickbacks linked to public works, oil and gas contracts, and the procurement of masks during the pandemic, as reported by Al Jazeera, The Hindu and Deutsche Welle. They deny wrongdoing.
Separately, Spain's High Court said it was investigating former Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero over allegations he led a network that profited from lobbying public authorities on behalf of third parties, including airline Plus Ultra, according to The Hindu. He denies the claims.
The case is one of several corruption probes nearing or already at trial that are weighing on Sanchez, one of Europe's few remaining leftist leaders. He has not been named in any of the cases and has said they are part of a campaign to remove him from office, as reported by the Jerusalem Post and The Hindu.
In a related development, the fragmented lower house of the Spanish parliament on Thursday passed a non-binding resolution urging Sanchez to resign due to a slew of corruption scandals hounding his center-left Socialist Party and inner circle, according to the Jerusalem Post. The motion says the mounting number of investigations into corruption cases involving political figures appointed and directly supported by Sanchez requires that he take responsibility by resigning. A separate article urged Sanchez to submit to a motion of confidence if he does not call a snap election.
Supporting the resolution were the main opposition People's Party (PP), their far-right allies Vox, as well as the pro-Catalan independence party Junts, which traditionally opposes the two unionist parties, as reported by the Jerusalem Post.