The expected decision of the Provincial Court of Madrid in the case of Begoña has been delayed. The court has suspended the session for deliberation and voting that was scheduled for Monday to resolve the appeals against the investigation led by Judge Juan Carlos Peinado, who has charged Begoña Gomez with influence peddling and corruption in business dealings. The decision to postpone the meeting is due to a mistake made by the court led by Peinado, which did not send all the “relevant” and necessary documentation for the debate that was supposed to take place on that day. The Provincial Court, which had reserved this Monday for the appeals more than two months ago, explains that it has discovered a new appeal from Begoña Gomez’s lawyer which was not previously mentioned. This mistake was only noticed after requesting all of the judge’s enquiries to study the case thoroughly.
Legal sources detail that this issue will delay the decision of the Provincial Court by several weeks, which must decide whether to support Peinado’s inquiries, dismiss them (as requested by Gomez’s defense, represented by former Socialist minister Antonio Camacho), or limit them (as requested by the prosecution). The 41st Court will now have to send new documentation to the Provincial Court, which will then set a new date for deliberation and issuing the verdict. The reactions to the delay have been swift. Oscar Lopez, Minister for Digital Transformation and the Civil Service, expressed his concerns on Twitter shortly after the news broke, suggesting that the case may be delayed deliberately to harm the Prime Minister.
In one of their appeals, Begoña Gomez’s defense accused Judge Peinado of conducting a “prospective investigation” in order to “look for any criminal activity” in her life, which they claim is prohibited in a Rule of Law. The prosecution, taking a similar stance, has criticized the “procedural drift” of the inquiries and pointed out that the judge has not defined the object and scope of his investigation. According to the prosecution, Peinado has ordered generic and vague investigations, exceeding the limits set by the Madrid Court of Appeal which restricted the case to exclude certain erroneous and speculative facts, and only allowed investigations into public contracts awarded to companies linked to businessman Juan Carlos Barrabés, a part that the European Prosecution Service has already taken over.
The delay on Monday allows Peinado to continue with his investigations, as he had not halted them until now. He has conducted several rounds of interrogations in July and August, requested further reports from the Civil Guard, and even scheduled another interrogation for mid-October. He can now proceed with these activities while awaiting the final decision of the Provincial Court on whether to restrict, dismiss, or support his investigation. The ongoing legal battle surrounding Begoña Gomez’s case has stirred political controversy, with the Socialist Party accusing the investigation of lacking a solid foundation and aiming to discredit the Prime Minister. The final decision of the court will determine the fate of the case and its implications for all parties involved.
