The leader of the Extremaduran PSOE appears "affected" after Gallardo's conviction and trusts in his innocence

The new general secretary of the PSOE of Extremadura appeared this Tuesday visibly affected after the Provincial Court of Badajoz condemned his predecessor, Miguel Ángel Gallardo, and David Sánchez for the irregularities found in the hiring of the president of the Government's brother in the Provincial Council.

Álvaro Sánchez Cotrina, who has been at the head of the regional organization for barely two months, has chosen to support the right of the convicted to appeal and maintain his confidence in the innocence of his colleagues, while expressing a "maximum respect" for the sentence and for judicial independence.

"I appear affected", acknowledged the socialist leader, who maintains a personal relationship with some of the convicted. Cotrina explained that several of them have already communicated their intention to appeal and has assured that he trusts that they can "prove their innocence in other judicial instances".

"Show your face through thick and thin"

The general secretary wanted to distance himself from the custom of some parties to immediately distance themselves from their former leaders when an adverse judicial resolution appears. "My commitment is to always show my face, through thick and thin", he said before recalling that Gallardo and other affected parties exercised public responsibilities on behalf of the PSOE.

Cotrina has ruled out pretending that he now does not know those who were part of the socialist leadership or of the institutions governed by the party. In his opinion, such an attitude would lack credibility before the citizens. His position combines the political and personal defense of the convicted with the recognition that there is a judicial ruling that must be respected.

The socialist leader also claimed the renewal undertaken since the last regional congress, in which he took over from Gallardo after the severe electoral defeat suffered by the Extremaduran PSOE. The sentence now forces the new leadership to manage a case that marked the stage of his predecessor and conditioned a large part of the regional campaign.

The PSOE will review its internal statutes

The sentence also obliges the party to study the possible organic consequences for its convicted militants. Sánchez Cotrina has confirmed that the regional leadership will analyze the statutes and apply the measures contemplated in its internal rules.

"We will see what our party's statutes say, the party's internal rules, and apply them. There is no other way," he explained. The leader trusts that those affected will act consistently with the obligations they assumed when joining the PSOE.

The Provincial Court of Badajoz has condemned Miguel Ángel Gallardo as the author of two crimes of administrative prevarication, with two sentences of nine years of special disqualification from public employment or office and from exercising the right to passive suffrage.

David Sánchez has received a sentence of nine years of disqualification as a necessary cooperator in one of those crimes. The resolution also affects several former officials and employees of the Diputación de Badajoz related to the creation, awarding, and subsequent modification of the positions examined during the trial.

The convictions are not yet final. The defenses have announced that they will appeal to try to get higher instances to review the proven facts and the legal interpretation made by the Court.

PP, Vox, and Unidas por Extremadura have also reacted to the ruling

The Extremaduran PP has demanded a public apology from the PSOE and has accused the socialists of using the Diputación de Badajoz as a "chiringuito to plug in Pedro Sánchez's brother." Its parliamentary spokesperson, José Ángel Sánchez Juliá, has maintained that the sentence proves the partisan use of the institution and has asked the Government of Spain to call general elections.

From the ultra party Vox, Inés Checa has also demanded an electoral call so that citizens can expel Pedro Sánchez's Executive.

Unidas por Extremadura has taken a different position from that maintained by Sumar in Congress. Irene de Miguel has positively valued the disqualifications and has considered that prison sentences would have been excessive, while the prohibition from holding public office seems to her "a quite adjusted penalty" to combat clientelism.

The Junta blames Sánchez and demands general elections

The vice president of the Junta de Extremadura, Abel Bautista, has taken advantage of the sentence to demand that Pedro Sánchez call general elections. The popular leader believes that the president is "surrounded" by the judicial cases affecting people in his political and family circle.

Bautista has stated that "the basket is rotten" and has directly pointed to the head of the Executive as the political responsible. He has also asked the Extremaduran PSOE to apologize to the President of the Junta, María Guardiola, and to the regional Government for the accusations previously made about an alleged operation to promote the judicial procedure.

The vice president has defended that Justice has worked despite the criticism and pressure that, according to his version, the investigating judge received during the investigation. He has also predicted that the PSOE will face new convictions in the coming months, a statement made when there are still different open procedures subject to the presumption of innocence.

Sánchez Cotrina has responded by accusing Bautista of going out to "hyperventilate" and of trying to politically exploit the sentence. The socialist leader has refused to enter into a succession of reproaches and has insisted that his organization will respect both judicial resolutions and the right of the convicted to appeal them.

The defenses are now preparing appeals against the sentence, while the leadership of the PSOE of Extremadura will examine its statutes to determine the organic measures that correspond during the following phases of the procedure.