Hugo Pereira 'sentences' controversial judge Peinado after sending Begoña Gómez to trial: "He is moved by personal motivations against Sánchez"

Hugo Pereira has assessed the judge Juan Carlos Peinado's decision to bring Begoña Gómez, wife of the President of the Government, Pedro Sánchez, to trial, with a harsh criticism of the magistrate's actions during the investigation. The journalist has especially questioned his methods and has argued that his behavior during the instruction has generated significant damage to the image of Justice.

Pereira began his statements by differentiating between the majority of members of the judicial career and those cases that, in his opinion, deviate from that normality. "I am convinced that the vast majority of members of the Judiciary are professional people who try to do their job in the best possible way," he said.

However, he considers Peinado to be an exception and has defined him as a "black sheep of Spanish justice." In his opinion, the magistrate's actions would be harming the image of judicial institutions.

"He is the clearest example, the clearest case, a paradigmatic case of Judge Juan Carlos Peinado," Pereira affirmed, before stating that, since the beginning of the investigation, certain behaviors of the magistrate lead him to believe that there are motivations that go beyond strictly judicial ones.

Pereira speaks of "personal motivations"

The journalist insisted that he is not attributing any crime to the magistrate. "I am not saying that he has prevaricated, because it is not my function as a journalist to attribute crimes to anyone," he clarified. Then, however, he argued that, in his opinion, Peinado would have also acted moved by personal issues. "That, of course, Judge Juan Carlos Peinado is a black sheep of Spanish justice, who does immense damage to Spanish justice, is an evident fact," he assured.

Pereira also alluded to the decisions adopted by higher judicial instances during the instruction to defend his argument. According to his interpretation, these resolutions would have set limits at different times to the investigation carried out by Peinado. "Higher judicial instances have delimited Judge Juan Carlos Peinado's instruction on so many occasions, giving him, as it is colloquially said, a 'pull on the ear'," he affirmed.

Criticism of the actions with Begoña Gómez

Another of the episodes mentioned by Pereira has to do with the actions related to Begoña Gómez. The journalist has questioned the way in which, according to his account, one of the summons related to the case would have occurred. “Judge Juan Carlos Peinado was the one who summoned Begoña Gómez from one day to the next, recently, a few weeks ago, from one day to the next,” he pointed out.

He has also brought back the controversy related to a judicial action in the Palacio de la Moncloa, during the declaration of Minister Félix Bolaños, to criticize what he considers improper forms of a judicial procedure. “These are such anachronistic things, these are such... that they show that there are also personal motivations, not just judicial ones,” he defended.

Pereira has also maintained that the criticisms of the judge do not come only from journalists or political commentators. According to him, there would also be questions raised by professionals linked to the judicial career and legal experts.

“Even his colleagues in the judiciary, in the judicial career, experts in the field, not me, who am ultimately the director of a media outlet, but experts, judges, even experts in the field, have criticized the forms of Judge Juan Carlos Peinado,” he stated.

In conclusion, Pereira has linked his criticisms of the magistrate to the impact that, in his opinion, the procedure is having on the image of institutions. “It does great damage to justice because it is evident that he has personal motivations against the Government, against Begoña Gómez and against Pedro Sánchez,” he concluded.

These last statements correspond to Pereira's own assessment and not to a judicial resolution that has established the existence of these alleged motivations. The case against Begoña Gómez and the actions of Judge Peinado have generated an intense political and legal debate, with opposing interpretations about the development of the investigation.