Spanish judge orders prime minister's wife to face corruption trial and surrender her passport

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BARCELONA, Spain (AP) — A judge on Saturday ordered the wife of Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez to face trial on charges of influence peddling and corruption, and to surrender her passport.

Investigative judge Juan Carlos Peinado issued the ruling, arguing that Begoña Gómez represented a flight risk. In addition to surrendering her passport, she must also appear before a court every two weeks. A trial date hasn't been set.

The decision touched off a heated political confrontation, with calls from the opposition for Sanchez's Socialist government to resign.

Gómez is accused of using her position to influence government contracts given to a group of technology companies. The judge also accused her of the misuse of public funds in the hiring of a consultant, and the inappropriate use of software while she was a professor at a public university.

Gómez has denied any wrongdoing. Sánchez has called the case against her part of a smear campaign by conservative political opponents to topple his left-wing government, which has been in power since 2018.

Peinado said that a businessman who allegedly benefited from the government contracts and the consultant that worked for Gómez will also stand trial.

Sánchez, a critic of U.S. President Donald Trump, is facing legal trouble on multiple fronts before a general election due by next year.

Earlier this week, a former Socialist prime minister, José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero, appeared before a different judge in connection with his alleged role in a government airline bailout and to explain the discovery of high-end jewelry during a police raid on his office. He denies wrongdoing.

Government officials sharply criticized Saturday's decision as politically motivated, while the Socialist Party called it “an absolute scandal for democracy.”

“Begoña Gómez is innocent,” the party said. “For two years now, she has been the target of a political and judicial witch hunt. Today’s development is just the latest escalation.”

But Spain’s conservative opposition went on the attack, urging the government to call an early election.

“Lawmakers and the architects of our constitution could never have imagined that the threats to our democracy could originate from the Spanish government itself,” said Miguel Tellado, secretary-general of the main opposition People’s Party.

“Now we see how the government attacks judges, prosecutors and the media while attempting to silence opposition parties,” he said. “This is unthinkable in any modern democracy.”

The two-year investigation into Gómez was launched following accusations by the pressure group Manos Limpias, or Clean Hands, which has pursued multiple legal cases, many linked to conservative causes.

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Derek Gatopoulos contributed to this report from Athens, Greece.