David Sánchez and Gallardo to testify at end of trial at Badajoz Provincial Court
The trial for the alleged creation of David Sánchez's position at the Badajoz Provincial Authority begins on 28 May. The defendants will not testify before 4 June.
Trial in Badajoz: eleven defendants before Provincial Court in case of president's brother
The Badajoz Provincial Court opens the oral hearing on Thursday 28 May in the case facing eleven defendants, including David Sánchez — the president of the Government's brother — and former general secretary of the PSOE in Extremadura Miguel Ángel Gallardo. According to ABC, none of the defendants will testify during the opening days of the trial; the defence teams have requested that their clients speak after witnesses, technical experts and Civil Guard agents have given testimony, with the aim of adapting their procedural strategy to the content of those statements. The court does not expect to hear from them before 4 June.
The decision was communicated to the parties weeks before the trial began and reflects standard practice in criminal proceedings of this nature. The case accumulates a vast amount of documentation: corporate emails and reports drawn up by the Central Operational Unit (UCO) of the Civil Guard occupy a central place in the investigation that led judge Beatriz Biedma to bring the eleven defendants to trial.
Timetable for the oral hearing
28 and 29 May are reserved for preliminary motions, in which the defence teams will again challenge some of the steps taken during the investigation, with particular emphasis on the interception of emails from workers and officials of the Badajoz Provincial Authority.
Witness testimony will begin on Monday 1 June. The court has scheduled appearances in different time slots to avoid long delays. Provincial officials, technical experts linked to the conservatoires in the province and UCO agents who took part in the collection of documentation and in preparing the reports incorporated into the case will appear before the court. After more than thirty witnesses have testified, the eleven defendants will speak, presumably from 4 June onwards. The trial could extend into the week of 8 June.
The alleged creation of a made-to-measure position
The proceedings seek to determine whether the Badajoz Provincial Authority created a post designed specifically to benefit the president's brother and whether the conditions of the position were subsequently adjusted to his professional and personal interests. David Sánchez was hired in 2017 as coordinator of the conservatoires in the province, a post that in time changed its title to coordinator of the Office of Performing Arts.
During that period, Miguel Ángel Gallardo was president of the Badajoz Provincial Authority. The former Extremaduran socialist leader is listed as the provincial authority's highest-ranking official at the time when not only David Sánchez was hired — whom he always defended as "a great professional" — but also Luis María Carrero, a former adviser to the Moncloa and close friend of the president's brother.
An email dated 30 October 2023, weeks before the tender bases were officially published on 22 November, shows David Sánchez writing to Carrero: "As soon as you join I want to spend at least a week here to provide support. Let me know so I can arrange things." The investigating judge concluded that the exchange assumed that the post would go to Carrero, whose hiring constitutes the second major focus of the trial.
Gallardo enters low-profile
Gallardo faces the trial after months away from the spotlight. After the PSOE in Extremadura recorded its worst-ever result on 21 December, he resigned as general secretary within twenty-four hours and subsequently gave up his seat in the Extremadura Regional Assembly. Since then he has barely appeared in public, with the exception of a brief appearance at the 16th Regional Congress of the PSOE in Extremadura, where Álvaro Sánchez Cotrina was elected new general secretary — a figure who does not identify with the former regional leader's profile. People close to Gallardo acknowledge that "he has not had an easy time" and that he is focused on "defending his honour".
Charges and sentences
The eleven defendants face charges of misuse of office and abuse of influence, with sentences including up to three years' imprisonment, fines and disqualifications. The court will be presided over by judges with extensive experience in Extremadura; the rapporteur, Emilio Serrano, previously headed the high-profile Manuela Chavero case.
The weeks of the trial will represent a period of sustained political pressure for the PSOE in Extremadura, which began its rebuilding process just a month ago under new leadership, and for the president of the Government, Pedro Sánchez, who will see his closest circle once again at the centre of judicial attention.
Source: ABC